AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE NEW EU MEMBER STATES AND CROATIA: PRICES, AFFORDABILITIES AND CONVERGENCE POTENTIAL

In this paper we analyze the developments in the agricultural land prices in Croatia and the new member states of European Union. Besides agricultural land prices, the affordability index of agricultural land is also calculated and discussed. Due to the fact that the observed economies are undergoing convergence process, their agriculture land prices and affordability indices are compared to old member stated of European Union. According to the analysis, one can conclude that agriculture land prices in Croatia and the new EU member states are several times lower when compared to the old EU member states. However, due to the rapid growth of the agricultural prices, the affordability of the agricultural land in Croatia and the new EU member states has become an issue for the rural population. The regression analysis of the agricultural land prices determinants suggests that the productivity of agricultural production and agricultural income explain best the level of the agricultural prices.