Documentation of Land purchase prices and agricultural land rents Statistics

General description of the statistics

The statistics include the prices of purchased and rented agricultural land in Finland. The data are presented in euros per hectare.

Classifications

Since 2017, the statistics have covered the whole of Finland and been divided into NUTS2 areas (list).

The 2016 data on agricultural land rents have also been classified by ELY Centre region and farm type into regular, organic and horticultural production. In addition, the 2016 data have been divided into 11 production lines.

Coverage

Land purchase prices follow representative land purchases that have been made during a specific year and confirmed by a public purchase witness, and that concern an area of at least two hectares. 

The 2016 rents are based on the crop production survey’s questionnaire, whose population included roughly 3,600 farms. Since 2017, agricultural land rents have been based on the agricultural profitability accounting data (FADN), annually including approximately 740 full-time agricultural and horticultural farms.

Statistical concepts and definitions

“Land purchase price” means the purchase price (EUR per hectare) paid for unbuilt arable land.

“Agricultural land rent” means the annual compensation (EUR per hectare) paid for agricultural land leased from an external party.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit is EUR per hectare.

Population of the statistics

In the statistics on land purchase prices, the population consists of the dataset included in the National Land Survey of Finland’s purchase price statistics. The dataset includes purchases of unbuilt arable land that have been confirmed by a public purchase witness and cover an area of at least two hectares. Transactions between relatives have not been taken into account.

The statistics on agricultural land rents are based on the dataset of agricultural profitability accounting (FADN). The population consists of all full-time farms in Finland whose standard financial output (SO) is more than eight.

Measuring unit 

Land purchase prices and agricultural land rents are presented in euros per hectare.

Reference period

Year

Distribution frequency

The statistics on land purchase prices and agricultural land rents are published annually – rents in the spring and purchase prices in the autumn of the following calendar year.

The statistics are compiled based on the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014), the act on food and natural resource statistics (562/2014) and the Statistics Act (280/2004), as well as a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ entered into with Eurostat. Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community sets an indirect obligation to compile the statistics.

More information: Statistics legislation

Data protection principles

Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle. Micro-data is confidential and must never be released for administrative decision-making, investigation, surveillance, legal proceedings, or similar purposes.

Confidentiality - data treatment

The confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed according to the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Personal Data Act (523/1999), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). Data is protected at all stages of processing using the necessary physical and technological solutions. The staff only has access to information necessary for their duties. Unauthorised people do not have access to spaces in which micro-data is processed. Staff members have signed a non-disclosure agreement when entering duty. Intentional breach of confidentiality will be penalised.

More information: Privacy policy – Statistics

The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00.  Data is public after it has been published on the website.

Publication calendar

The publication dates are confirmed in autumn together with the action plans. The release calendar of the following year is published for users in the end of the year. The release calendar holds data on the dates of future publications. The calendar also contains direct links to already published statistical publication.

Release calendar access

Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland

Quality assurance

In compiling statistics, the National Resources Institute Finland (Luke) complies with the Code of Practice (CoP) for European statistics and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on it. The CoP concerns the independence and liability obligation of the statistical authorities and the quality of processes and published information. Its principles are compatible with and supplement the principles of official statistics approved by the UK Statistical Commission. In addition, the quality criteria set for the Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the CoP. Its principles are also compatible with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

Statistics Finland audits Luke’s statistics annually, and these audits partly verify the quality of the statistics. 

FADN/agricultural profitability accounting involves various audit and validation processes. The agricultural land rents of each agricultural enterprise will be checked if the rent per hectare is less than EUR 10 or more than EUR 700. There may be potential errors in the amount of rent and/or the registered number of hectares on leased agricultural land.

Users’ needs

The statistical data are used in administration and research, as well as by agri-food enterprises, producer organisations and guidance services. Internationally, the data are by such bodies as Eurostat.

Sampling error 

No sampling errors or confidence intervals have been defined for agricultural land rents.

Timeliness

Data on land rents are published in the spring (N+2) when agricultural profitability accounting is completed. Data on purchase prices during the previous calendar year are published at the end of September.

Chronological comparability

Data published by NUTS area are comparable between different years.

Source data

The National Land Survey of Finland’s register of property purchase prices acts as a source for land purchase prices. The dataset has been classified by region.

Luke’s agricultural profitability accounting results act as a source of agricultural land rents. The 2016 data on agricultural land rents are based on the crop production survey’s questionnaire, including roughly 6,000 farms and 3,100 horticultural enterprises.

Data collection frequency

Annually

Data collection method

Land purchase prices are based on the National Land Survey of Finland’s purchase price register.

The 2016 data on agricultural land rents are based on price data collected through the crop production and horticultural surveys. The crop production survey is conducted every year and covers roughly 6,000 regular and organic farms. Every year, some 3,100 outdoor and greenhouse enterprises participate in the horticultural survey. Data are collected using an online form or by using telephone interviews. 

Since 2017, agricultural land rents have been based on the results of agricultural profitability accounting. The results cover roughly 740 farms annually.

Validation of data

The National Land Survey of Finland validates its registered dataset. Any obvious registration errors are removed from the dataset, including transactions that involve buildings and those in which forest land covers more than 5% of the area. Upper and lower limits for regional purchase prices have been defined in the dataset. The limits are adjusted regularly.

FADN/agricultural profitability accounting involves various audit and validation processes. The agricultural land rents of each agricultural enterprise will be checked if the rent per hectare is less than EUR 10 or more than EUR 700. There may be potential errors in the amount of rent and/or the registered number of hectares on leased agricultural land.

Processing of data

Land purchase prices are calculated by NUTS area, and they are weighted by the total agricultural land area in the area in question (method defined by Eurostat). 

Agricultural land rents are calculated from the dataset of FADN/agricultural profitability accounting. Because being included in FADN/agricultural profitability accounting is based on voluntariness for agricultural contractors, the results are weighted afterwards to be representative. The weights used are based on the Finnish Food Authority’s farm register data, from which all agricultural and horticultural enterprises whose SO is more than 2,000 have been selected. The calculation of the weights for each farm included in FADN/agricultural profitability accounting is based on the number of registered enterprises they represent in their NUTS2 area, production line and size class. The farm size classification is based on SO and the 14-step classification used in the FADN system. The production line classification used is the 10-step production line classification used in agricultural profitability accounting. 

The FADN/agricultural profitability accounting sample consists of panel data on roughly 740 farm enterprises. The sample is supplemented annually to compensate for the 8% left out every year. The selection of new farms is based on the selection plan submitted to the EU, which defines the number of farms by production line and farm size required for each FADN area. Based on the results of the selection plan, lists of contractors who primarily should be included in FADN/agricultural profitability accounting are defined through random sampling. The agricultural land rent is only one variable among thousands of others, and these variables are irrelevant in the selection plan or random sampling.