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Regional Breakdown

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Regional Indicators

The regional indicators are based on the NUTS3 regions as detailed in the background notes. Similarly to national indicators, they also provide information on prices, volume and value of agricultural land. It should be noted that median and mean prices are not appropriate for measuring the evolution of land prices in a region as the mix of land sold in different periods can change over time. Due to a lack of arable land transactions in some regions, detailed information on arable land transactions is unavailable in those regions.

As can be seen in Table 2.3, there are very few transactions in Dublin each year. As a result, Dublin is excluded from the analysis of regional indicators, however, it is included in graphs and tables for comparisons.

It should also be noted that some counties have moved NUTS3 regions since the Land Prices 2016 publication and as such there are discrepancies between the two publications. A detailed list of the new NUTS3 regions can be found in the background notes of this publication.

Median Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region

With a median price1 of €10,006 per acre, the Mid-East was the most expensive place to purchase land in 2018. The West region was the least expensive region with a median price of €4,829 per acre.

1 - The median regional price is the middle value of a list of transactions in that region when sorted in order of price per acre. The advantage of taking the median price over the mean price is that it is not skewed by extremely large or small values and therefore gives a better idea of the typical value.

201620172018
Border485751004962
Dublin176951517615205
Mid-East9992948810006
Mid-West650771878166
Midland698477097018
South-East980893399921
South-West749487438647
West468844244829
Table 2.1 - Median Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region

Mean Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region

The Mid-East was the region with the highest mean price2 per acre of agricultural land with an acre of land selling at a mean price of €9,013 in 2018. The lowest mean price per acre was in the Border region where an acre of land was €3,469.

2 - The mean price per acre was calculated by dividing the total value of the land sold in each region by the total volume of land sold in each region.

201620172018
Border370927833469
Dublin15130734616686
Mid-East929191029013
Mid-West656078656288
Midland558341656524
South-East858192367796
South-West604881976308
West377528274290
Table 2.2 - Mean Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region

Number of Transactions of Agricultural Land by Region

The West had the highest number of agricultural land transactions in 2018 with 685 transactions occurring. The South-East had the lowest number of transactions with only 123 transactions taking place in 2018.

201620172018
Border370369442
Dublin101115
Mid-East205172221
Mid-West190156222
Midland164162208
South-East133111123
South-West161178179
West486432685
Table 2.3 - Number of Transactions of Agricultural Land by Region

Volume of Agricultural Land Sold by Region

The West had the largest volume of agricultural land sold in 2018 with 10,416 acres sold. The smallest volume of land was sold in the South-East region where 2,233 acres were sold in 2018.

201620172018
Border727884537770
Dublin90189161
Mid-East482828754411
Mid-West377626584283
Midland339345044018
South-East267516682233
South-West367535734145
West8267907010416
Table 2.4 - Volume of Agricultural Land Sold by Region

Value of Agricultural Land by Region

The highest value of agricultural land sold in Ireland was in the West, where €44.69 million worth of land was sold in 2018. The South-East had the lowest value of land sold in 2018 with €17.41 million worth of land sold.

201620172018
Border269926672352461326952777
Dublin135830113905002692471
Mid-East448568602616918039753429
Mid-West247745982090316826929323
Midland189441541876194226214630
South-East229536961540444917407380
South-West222250892928750026148021
West312069682563839244685634
Table 2.5 - Value of Agricultural Land Sold by Region

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Median Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region and Land Type

Similarly to the national indicators, there is a relatively large price difference between arable land and permanent grassland in most regions. Outside of Dublin, the most expensive price per acre of arable land was in the Mid-West region with a median price of €16,817 per acre in 2018. The highest median price per acre of permanent grassland was in the South-East at €9,941 per acre. The lowest price per acre for arable land was in the West with a median price per acre of €6,425 per acre and the lowest price per acre for permanent grassland was also in the West region at €4,829 per acre.

The largest difference in median price between arable land and permanent grassland was in the Mid-West region where arable land cost €8,789 more per acre than permanent grassland.

Arable LandPermanent Grassland
Border04962
Dublin1415715999
Mid-East118219762
Mid-West168178028
Midland135756989
South-East89939941
South-West120158466
West64254829
Table 2.6 - Median Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region and Land Type

Mean Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region and Land Type

The Mid-West had the highest mean price per acre for arable land with a price of €15,299 per acre. The South-East had the highest price per acre of permanent grassland with a mean price of €7,545 per acre. The lowest price per acre for arable land was in the West with a mean price of €9,049. The lowest price per acre for permanent grassland was in the Border region with a mean price of €3,469 per acre.

Arable LandPermanent Grassland
Border03469
Dublin1537018928
Mid-East105328549
Mid-West152996146
Midland128496469
South-East102157545
South-West118305969
West90494269
Table 2.7 - Mean Price per Acre of Agricultural Land by Region and Land Type

Number of Transactions of Agricultural Land by Region and Land Type

The West had the highest number of permanent grassland transactions in 2018 with 681 transactions. The highest number of arable land transactions were in the Mid-East with 37.

Arable LandPermanent Grassland
Border0442
Dublin87
Mid-East37184
Mid-West4218
Midland4204
South-East23100
South-West9170
West4681
Table 2.8 - Number of Transactions of Agricultural Land by Region and Land Type

Volume of Agricultural Land Sold by Region and Land Type

The region with the largest area of arable land sold in 2018 was the Mid-East with 1,033 acres sold. The West had the highest volume of permanent grassland sold in 2018 with 10,370 acres.

Arable LandPermanent Grassland
Border07770
Dublin10260
Mid-East10333378
Mid-West664216
Midland353983
South-East2102023
South-West2403905
West4510370
Table 2.9 - Volume of Agricultural Land Sold by Region and Land Type

Value of Agricultural Land Sold by Region and Land Type

The Mid-East had the highest value of arable land sold in 2018 with a total value of €10.88 million. The West had the highest value of permanent grassland sold with a total value of €44.28 million.

Arable LandPermanent Grassland
Border026952777
Dublin15624711130000
Mid-East1087591028877519
Mid-West101621625913107
Midland45150025763131
South-East214680015260580
South-West283497223313049
West41100044274634
Table 2.10 - Value of Agricultural Land Sold by Region and Land Type

Go to next chapter >>> Background Notes

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