Land buyers in the mid-west, including Clare, Limerick and Tipperary, spent €84.9 million on agricultural land in 2022 – more than in other part of the country, new figures from the Central Statistics (CSO) show.
In contrast, only €5.3 million was spent by land buyers in the Dublin region, while €54.4 million was spend on land purchases in border areas, including Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, and Sligo.
Latest figures published today (May 1) by the CSO highlight that 59,806ac of agricultural land were sold nationally, which represents an increase of 0.4% on 59,597ac sold in 2021.
Niall Corkery, statistician in the prices division of the CSO said: “The median price per acre was €8,094 in 2022, 7.5% higher than in 2021, when it was €7,529.
“Arable land commanded a significantly higher median price of €13,745 per acre, than permanent grassland at €7,850.”
According to the CSO Dublin and the mid-east were the most expensive regions to buy agricultural land.
Corkery added: “Purchasers in Dublin and the mid-east – Kildare, Louth, Meath, and Wicklow regions – paid the highest median price/ac of €18,395 and €12,307, respectively.
“The land was most affordable in the west – Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon region, where the median price was €6,039/ac.”
CSO
The latest CSO release also details that the size of the average land purchase in 2022 was 17.5ac.
Only 3,903ac – 6.5% were arable land, which the CSO said “commanded a significantly higher median price” of €13,745 per acre.
The remaining 55,902ac – 93.5% of agricultural land sold at an average price of €7,850 – were permanent grassland.
The total value of agricultural land sales in 2022 was €501 million, which represented an increase of 5.9% on the €473.1 million recorded in 2021.
Meanwhile arable land accounted for €62.3 million or 12.4% of land purchases while €438.7 million – 87.6% – was spent on permanent grassland.
Corkery added: “The volume of sales was the highest in the west – Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon region – where 11,061ac of agricultural land changed hands, while only 338ac were sold in the Dublin region and 5,565ac in the south-east – Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford region”.