Eurostat’s 2025 data put Greece at the top of the EU housing-cost burden measure, while the higher rates among poorer residents show how unevenly the pressure falls.
The share was 26.4% in Greece and 23.4% in Denmark. Cyprus posted the bloc’s lowest figure, 2.4%, and the EU-wide result was 7.7%, according to Eurostat’s Key Figures on European Living Conditions 2026.
The measure counts people in households where housing costs, after housing allowances, exceed 40% of disposable income after the same adjustment. Covered expenses include regular bills such as utilities, maintenance and repairs, as well as property taxes and home insurance.
Location also shaped the results. The rate was 9.6% in cities, against 7.1% in towns and suburbs and 5.6% in rural areas. Cities posted the highest figure in 18 EU countries. Greece’s Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki had the EU’s highest regional rate, at 33.9%; every Greek and Danish region recorded a rate of at least 16%.
The burden was much higher among lower-income residents. European Commission figures show that 29.1% of EU residents at risk of poverty and 25.9% of people in the lowest income quintile lived in overburdened households in 2025.
The Commission also reported that house prices had risen faster than incomes since 2016. The average share of disposable income spent on housing eased to 18.9% in 2025 from 19.2% in 2024. Lower interest rates and rising real incomes helped offset faster house-price growth, the Commission said.
Eurostat’s 2026 Key Figures publication lists Denmark at 23.4%; a separate Eurostat chart shows 23.3%. Eurostat flags Denmark’s 2025 observation as a break in the time series. Euronews reported a lower figure of 14.7%.
Eurostat lists January 2027 as the next planned update for its housing-price statistics.
