Demand for agricultural land suitable for organic farming has increased in Bulgaria

In recent years, Bulgaria marked a trend of the growing demand for agricultural land suitable for organic farming. The number of transactions for sales and purchase as well as rent of plots has also been growing. This is connected with the increasing interest of modern society in healthy nutrition, as well as with numerous studies that confirm that fruits and vegetables produced with the use of artificial fertilizers cause health issues. An additional factor of increasing the interest in organic farming was the growth of the income of the Bulgarian population and approaching the country's prosperity level to European standards. 

Organic agriculture is in the focus of many politicians, economists, farmers and ordinary consumers. The main difference between this strategy and the approach to land processing actively used until recently is that it is against pesticides, nitrites, nitrates and other fertilizers.

This organic farming approach has many advantages:

• Grown fruits, vegetables, grains are clean of chemicals, which reduces the risk of dangerous chronic diseases;
• Animal husbandry and beekeeping products also get better quality;
• Fertilization and soil formation is a natural process;
• The loss of soil suitable for agriculture is reduced;
• The level of environmental pollution goes down;
• A natural eco-balance is preserved.

Disadvantages of organic farming are high costs and, accordingly, sales prices.

Organic farming and real estate market

An analysis of the real estate market in Bulgaria, conducted by consulting companies, as well as by experts from Apart Estate and other agencies specializing in the land sales, demonstrated the growth in demand for plots suitable for organic farming.

Thus, for the period from 2012 to 2022, the area of ​​such plots in Bulgaria increased by 182%. This indicator is third among European countries. In the first place, there is Croatia with a 300% growth, while in the second place there is Portugal with a 278% increase.

At the same time, land in Bulgaria suitable for organic farming is only 2-3% of all the agricultural soils. For comparison, in Austria the corresponding number is 27%, in Estonia – 23%, in Sweden – 20%, in Portugal – 18%, and in Croatia - slightly less than 10%.

So, in spite of a high increase in the area of organic soils, the total percentage of such land in Bulgaria is still very low.

Imbalance leads to other market conflicts. High demand in the absence of offers leads to an increase in the land sale and rental prices. The highest prices are for plots in central Bulgaria and in Dobrich region. The most expensive land in the Burgas region is in the Karnobata area.

Another imbalance is a constant increase in demand for organic products in stores and supermarkets keeping in mind that there are no resources for that.

Apart Estate continues to monitor changes of the real estate market. We offer plots of land for organic farming and individual construction by the sea in Bulgaria, studio apartments and flats in Burgas, Nessebar, Sozopol and other cities of the Bulgarian Black Sea Region.