Agricultural land prices have been rising seriously in recent years. In some parts of Serbia, they have tripled.
In Vojvodina, the most expensive hectare was sold in the Juznobacka district and reached a price of 45,000 euros, while the cheapest cost 2,672 euros. The average price of a hectare is 15,211 euros.
Agroeconomist Milan Prostran says that after the signing of the agreement with the European Union in 2008, the price of the best quality land in Vojvodina was only 5,000 euros, while today it is ten times higher in the area around Bečej and Tisa.
“Two years ago, one hectare was sold in Bačka Topola for 120,000 euros. Considering that the agricultural land is decreasing more and more on the globe, in about 50 years, when there will be somewhere around 10 billion inhabitants on Earth, the price of land will be even more drastically higher.
“Man’s survival depends on the soil because the soil is the basis for food production,” emphasizes Prostran. He notes that land is constantly decreasing and that it is a non-renewable resource.
In Šumadija, 951 sales contracts were realized last year, which is an increase of 200 compared to 2021. The most expensive hectare was sold for 44,000 euros, while the cheapest was 612. In southern and eastern Serbia, the cheapest hectare was sold for 417 euros.
When asked why there is such a big difference in the price of the cheapest land compared to Vojvodina, Prostran says that the best quality land dominates in Vojvodina, which determines the price, as well as the location and proximity to infrastructure.
“In Vojvodina, land complexes are also larger, as a whole. In the central, and especially in the southern part of Serbia, the fields are fragmented. After all, the concentration of people is somewhat more intense in Vojvodina. Areas in the southern and eastern parts of Serbia were abandoned. Those areas where there is agricultural land are practically devoid of people,” says Prostran.
Prostran points out that we have an emptying of the village and that there are no inhabitants, but that recently there is clearly a growing interest in returning to the village. He emphasizes that the price of land has a tendency to rise and will be even more expensive.
