There has been a substantial increase in the volume of Australian agricultural land with a level of Chinese ownership, along with a drop in land area with U.K. and U.S. financial interests. 

The second report entitled Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land was recently released by the Australia Taxation Office, detailing registrations as of June 30.

One of the most notable changes in this year's report is the surge in area of land with Chinese interests, which has shot up nearly ten-fold from 1.5 million hectares in 2015-16 to 14.4 million in 2016-17. 

The Asian country has now moved up from fifth position on the list of 10 nations for ownership of Australian farmland to second position.

The U.K. remains at number one, although the area of land in which it has financial interests has dropped from 27.5 million to 16.4 million hectares.

Of the 13.6% of all Australian agricultural land that’s held by foreign investors, the U.K. now owns about 27% while Chinese investors own about 25%.

The U.S. remains in third position, with the area of land having declined from 7.7 million to 2.7 hectares.

"There have been some significant changes in foreign ownership of agricultural land across states and territories," the report said.

"The majority of these changes are due to the acquisition and disposal of agricultural land by foreign investors, and existing agricultural land holders changing their status to or from a foreign person."

On the top-10 list the U.K., China and U.S. are followed by the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Philippines, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

The total area of agricultural land in Australia with a level of foreign ownership has fallen from 52.1 million hectares to 50.5 million hectares. 

The Northern Territory and Tasmania top the list for foreign ownership of agricultural land, with 27% and 24% respectively, while at the other end of the list are New South Wales and Victoria with 5% and 6%.

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