Although it looks like a simple question, until recently no straight answer has been found. In an interview at the beginning of 2026, Romanian Minister of Agriculture Florin Barbu has provided important clarifications on one of the most sensitive and controversial topics in Romanian agriculture: the amount of agricultural land owned by foreign citizens and companies.
Based on figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), the Minister claims that the scale of this phenomenon is often exaggerated in public debates, and that the actual data shows a much more nuanced situation.
According to information presented by the head of MADR, foreign citizens as individuals own only about 0.01% of Romania's agricultural land. On the other hand, in the case of legal entities, the percentage is higher, ranging between 25% and 28%, but here too there are significant differences in interpretation. The minister explained that many of these situations involve companies registered in Romania or mixed cases, in which the owners are Romanian citizens married to foreign citizens.
"As individuals, 0.01% of the land in Romania is owned by foreigners. As legal entities, somewhere between 25-28%. (...) Let me give you an example. A lady who owns 7,000 hectares in the Timișoara area is Romanian and married to an Italian man. She told me: my husband is Italian, I am Romanian, can you say that the 7,000 hectares are owned by a foreigner? There are foreigners, but the percentage is not that high, somewhere around 25-28%," said Florin Barbu on Prima TV.
Another key point highlighted by the Minister of Agriculture is that the land is mostly not owned, but is farmed under lease agreements. Florin Barbu also pointed out that these companies operating in Romanian agriculture will remain in the country, will produce, will create added value, and will pay taxes and fees in Romania. In this context, the minister believes that their presence can have a positive effect on the trade balance and the development of the agricultural sector.
The evolution of average prices of agricultural land by category of use in the period 2023–2024 (euro/ha) is presented in the following table.
A comparison of farmland prices in EU Member States shows large variations of prices across the EU.