How have agricultural land prices changed in Ukraine and is it worth investing in them?

In 2024, the land market in Ukraine was actively developing, and in the first half of the year the average price for land plots increased by 19% from 37.1 to 44 thousand UAH/ha. The land in Poltava region and Ivano-Frankivsk region was in the greatest demand, where the average price per hectare reached UAH 52.59 thousand and UAH 101 thousand, respectively. It should be taken into account that the prices indicated in the purchase and sale agreements are lower than the market value, but the percentage change in the official price corresponds to the change in the market price.

During the three years of operation of the land market in Ukraine, 254,000 plots of agricultural land with a total area of 567,000 ha were sold, the average price of which was 41,000 UAH/ha. In Poltava Oblast, 60.36 thousand hectares of land were sold at an average price of UAH 42.75 thousand/hectare. At the same time, in 2023, the volume of land sales reached a record 179,921 thousand hectares.

In 2024, 17,037 thousand hectares of land were purchased in Poltava region at an average price of UAH 52,590/ha, in Dnipropetrovsk region — 12,953 thousand hectares at UAH 34,000/ha, in Kirovohrad region — 9,375 thousand hectares at UAH 38,000/ha, in Ivano- Frankiv region at 101,000 hryvnias/ha.

Only 25% of land plots changed hands through sale, while 65% were inherited. We will remind that the land market in Ukraine opened on July 1, 2021, and from 2024 it became available to legal entities, after which the value of land began to rise rapidly. Thus, in the Poltava region, where legal entities purchased the most agricultural land, prices rose by an average of 53%, as businesses are willing to pay more and declare the full price, not the minimum price.

In the Volyn region, land prices increased by 50%, in Zhytomyr region - by 33%, Khmelnytskyi region - by 23%, while land prices fell by 21% in Lviv region, and by 19% in Kherson region. The reason for the drop in prices in Lviv Oblast is the high base for comparison, as the official prices for agricultural land here are among the highest in Ukraine.

Experts predict that prices for agricultural land will grow by another 10-15% against the background of devaluation of the hryvnia against the dollar and an increase in the investment attractiveness of land plots, which will increase demand for them.