The average amount of ground rents in Bulgaria is among the highest in Europe, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Stanimirova of the Varna University of Economics in Varna, told BTA.
She presented her study on the current trends in the development of the agricultural land market in Bulgaria in the 2000-2022 period at an international conference hosted by the University.
The researcher explained that ground rents have been growing by some 10 percentage points annually, from an average of BGN 230 per hectare in 2010 to BGN 610 in 2022. The level varies by region, being the lowest in the Southwest and the highest in the Northeast, in parts of which the rent already exceeds BGN 930 per hectare.
During the period researched, the price of agricultural land in Bulgaria has been steadily increasing, by an annual average of 15%, from BGN 1,370 per hectare in 2000 to BGN 13,000-plus in 2022, Stanimirova said. Major contributing factors of this development have been Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and the ensuing aid payments under the Single Area Payment Scheme. Just as with rents, farm land price varies by region, from nearly BGN 20,000 per hectare in the Northeast to far less in the Southwest and South Central parts.
The researcher found that despite the growth of the average price of agricultural land in Bulgaria, it is still lower compared to other European countries, ranking in the bottom half of the table. Farm land fetches the lowest price in Estonia and Croatia and the highest in The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy. Nevertheless, the most expensive Bulgarian agricultural land – in the northeastern Dobrudzha region, outprices the land in Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia, the expert said. One reason for this is that farms in Bulgaria’s Northeast are larger, with efficient and more competitive production, which enables them to invest in state-of-the-art machinery and in various innovations. In other parts of the country, including around Sofia, farms are smaller and have fewer opportunities.
Source: BTA