International agriculture investment: Foreign ownership of New Zealand farmland. (2024)

FAQs

International agriculture investment: Foreign ownership of New Zealand farmland.? ›

Before land can be sold to foreign investors it has to go through the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) which assesses applications from overseas investors seeking to invest in sensitive New Zealand farm land. Farm land that exceeds 5 hectares is deemed to be sensitive.

The amount of productive New Zealand land in foreign hands is probably around 10 per cent - and growing. It is undoubtedly higher than the 2 per cent of rural land figure Prime Minister John Key drew on when attempting last week to defuse the row over the Chinese bid for Lochinver Station near Taupo.

Owning land as a foreigner is more complex. You can't buy sensitive land, which includes farmland, islands, and land near water bodies, without going through a rigorous Overseas Investment Office (OIO) screening process. This process assesses factors like the benefits to New Zealand and your connection to the country.

Foreign persons held an interest in over 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of December 31, 2022. This is 3.4 percent of all privately held agricultural land and nearly 2 percent of all land in the United States.

Canadian investors own the most land – 31% -- followed by the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Newton's investigation reveals that in total 56 percent of New Zealand is privately owned land. Within that 3.3 percent is in foreign hands and 6.7 percent is Maori-owned. At least 28 percent of the entire country is in public ownership, compared with say the UK where only eight percent is public land.

Overseas people usually cannot buy a house or land in New Zealand. If you have a residence class visa but you are not yet 'ordinarily resident', you can buy or build one home to live in as long as you get consent from the Overseas Investment Office before you buy.

As a US citizen, buying land in New Zealand is possible, but there are specific types and locations where restrictions apply. You can purchase land for both residential and commercial purposes, though with distinct considerations for each.

Investments requiring consent

Consent is required for investments by overseas persons in sensitive New Zealand assets. Such an investment can include: acquiring a sensitive asset (such as sensitive land) leasing a sensitive asset for more than 10 years.

How much farmland does China own in USA? ›

China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. That's a 30% increase just since 2019. And on top of that, they own land near an air force base in North Dakota.

The number of U.S. farm acres owned by foreign entities grew more than 8% in 2022, though the 43.4 million acres of foreign-owned forest and farm land is just 3.4% of the country's agricultural land, said a government report on Dec. 18, 2023. Founded in 1851, Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters.

Dec 15 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. farm acres owned by foreign entities grew more than 8% in 2022, though the 43.4 million acres of foreign-owned forest and farm land is just 3.4% of the country's agricultural land, said a government report on Friday.

And the best place to find productive farmland is Uruguay. With consistent appreciation and an annual cash return Uruguayan farmland is a great store of value in turbulent times. Nestling between Argentina, Brazil and the Atlantic Uruguay is peaceful, stable and has over 2.6 million acres of farmland under cultivation.

China is the world's largest grain producer, yet has grown more dependent on food imports in recent decades. Much of India's output is produced by subsistence farmers and consumed locally. The U.S. is the world's top food exporter thanks to high crop yields and extensive agricultural infrastructure.

According to USDA's latest AFIDA report, which is based on 2021 data, over 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land are owned by foreign investors and companies. This corresponds to 3.1% of all privately held agricultural land and 1.8% of all land in the United States.

The Crown owns most native forests. Through the Department of Conservation, it manages about 5.2 million hectares of New Zealand's tall indigenous forests for the conservation of biodiversity, heritage, and recreation.