Amsterdam is set to maintain its position as Europe's most expensive city for apartment rentals in 2025, with median costs reaching 2,500 euros per month for a furnished unit. This figure is double the rent in Prague and significantly higher than other major European capitals like Paris, Berlin, and Madrid. The stark difference in rental costs across European cities reflects broader economic trends, housing policies, and the complex interplay between supply and demand in urban centers. Factors driving rental costs across Europe The disparity in rental prices across European cities can be attributed to various factors. In countries like Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, a higher proportion of the population lives in rental housing. This trend contributes to increased demand and potentially higher living costs in these nations. Conversely, many Eastern and Southern European countries have homeownership rates exceeding 90 percent, which may help keep rental prices lower in those regions. Housing affordability and market dynamics The relationship between housing prices and rental rates varies significantly across Europe. As of 2024, countries like Turkey, Iceland, Portugal, and Hungary had the highest house price to rent ratio indices. This indicates a widening gap between property values and rental costs since 2015. The affordability of homeownership versus renting differs greatly among European nations, with some countries experiencing rapid increases in property values that outpace rental growth. These market dynamics influence rental costs and contribute to the diverse rental landscape observed across European cities.

In 2024, the most expensive residential rental market in Europe was Luxembourg with rental costs of approximately *****euros per square meter.Paris and Dublin followed with rental costs of ***and *****euros per square meter. Rents increased across most markets - a trend that could also be observed in the housing market. How much does an apartment cost in different European cities? Renting a furnished studio apartment in some of the leading cities in Europe can cost anywhere between *** euros monthly (Budapest) and ***** euros (Amsterdam) per month. For a furnished one-bedroom apartment in Paris, France, one may be expected to pay on average ***** euros monthly. Which countries have the most affordable housing? The house price to rent ratio is an indicator of the affordability of owning housing over renting across European countries and is calculated as the nominal house prices divided by a rent price index. The higher the ratio, the more the gap between house prices and rental rates has widened since 2015 when the index base was 100. As of the first quarter of 2025, Finland, Italy, and Romania had the lowest house price to rent ratio, meaning that buying a house was most affordable there compared to renting.

In the first quarter of 2025, Amsterdam was the most expensive city to rent a furnished private room among the 27 European cities surveyed. It was also among the top ranking most expensive cities to rent a furnished one-bedroom flat and studio apartment. One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer-driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land, and construction costs, all keep rental prices increasing.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the average rent price per square meter in major European cities was 18.4 euros. London had the highest price by far at 36.1 euros per square meter, followed by Amsterdam and Oslo at 27.3 and 26.7 euros, respectively. In contrast, Seville had the lowest average price, at 11 euros per square meter.

Average rent per month in cities by type of dwelling

During 2018, Paris was the most expensive European city to rent an Apartment, at 2.85 thousand U.S. dollars per month. London had an average rental cost of over 300 U.S. dollars less than the Capital of France. Cities within Western Europe have a higher rental price than their Eastern counterparts with Moscow seeing the average cost of rent over one thousand U.S. dollars per month lower than Paris.

Supply and demand

One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land and, construction costs all help keep rental prices increasing.

Renters now outweigh home owners

In London, the number of private renters has increased dramatically from 2008. Increasing house prices as well as standard costs of living have seen more and more people unable to get on to the property ladder, and are therefore forced onto the rental markets for longer. This being said 2019 has become a great time for first-time buyers as interest rates remained historically low.

Correction coefficients are used to ensure equality of purchasing power of salaries of EU officials in the different duty stations. They are calculated as the ratio between the “economic parity” and the exchange rate to the Euro (where applicable). They operate as a percentage adjustment to remuneration expressed in local currency.

The method used to establish economic parities is to compare the price of a basket of goods and services purchased by the average retired international official in Belgium with the price of an equivalent basket of goods and services purchased by the average retired international official in each of the other countries.

The rent paid for an apartment or house, due to its high weight in the total household expenditure structure, plays a significant role in determining the overall correction coefficient.

Consequently, specific rent surveys are carried out annually in cooperation with relevant real estate agencies. The information obtained, and that derived from similar surveys in previous years, is used to determine the difference in rental prices between Brussels and each of the other locations where the survey is carried out, in rental prices for the same type of dwelling.

The scope of these surveys is to compare the average market rent for some specific kinds of dwellings in some pre-specified representative areas of Brussels with similar dwellings in similar (representative and comparable) areas in other EU capitals and duty stations.

The estate agency rent surveys (EARS) are organised jointly by Eurostat, the International Service for Remunerations and Pensions (ISRP) of the Co-ordinated Organisations and national statistical institutes (NSI) in each duty station, including Brussels, with the collaboration of estate agents in the duty stations concerned.

The work is done in accordance with a methodology approved by the Expert Working Group on Articles 64 & 65 of the Staff Regulations.
Whilst this rent information is collected for a specific purpose, according to a specific methodology, it may also be relevant for other purposes.

This statistic illustrates the value of average monthly residential rents in European cities in 2018, in euros per square meter. It can be seen that London yielded the highest rents at **** euros per square meter, this was followed by Edinburgh and Dublin at **** euros per square meter and **** euros per square meter respectively. Comparatively, Berlin and Vienna had average residential rents of *** euros per square meter and *** euros per square meter.

This statistic presents the monthly rental prices for a furnished two-room apartment in selected European cities as of 2015. London led the ranking, with an average price per typically sized newly-built apartment amounting up to ***** U.S. dollars. It was followed closely by Geneva, with the monthly rental cost of ***** U.S. dollars.

London's prime high street retail location commanded the highest rents in Europe, with monthly rates reaching a staggering 2,786 euros per square meter in the second quarter of 2025. This figure dwarfs other major European cities, with Milan coming in second at 1,667 euros per square meter. The stark difference in rental prices highlights the premium placed on prime retail spaces in Europe's financial capital, reflecting the city's status as a global shopping destination. While London boasts the highest retail rents, the UK as a whole remains a significant player in retail real estate investment. In 2023, the UK attracted 6.6 billion euros in retail real estate investment, accounting for approximately a quarter of the total investment in the sector across Europe.

Presents information on the average weekly rents for rented Registered Social Landlord dwellings by local authority district, county and region in England. Source agency: Communities and Local Government Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Registered Social Landlord average weekly rents, England

As of October 2024, Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca were the most expensive cities to live in. On average, renting a studio apartment costed 400 euros per month in Cluj-Napoca. Arad was the most affordable city to live in from the given list - 448 euros for a three-room apartment.

This table includes the average increase of rent paid for dwellings by region. There is a breakdown regarding the rent change in- and excluding rent harmonisation. There is also a division by province and the four large cities Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht. The rent change is given on an annual basis and is significant input for the housing price movements in the consumer price index. Data available from: 1999 Status of the figures: All values are definite. Frequency: Discontinued on 10 October 2011.

In 2023, the average rent in Swiss cities ranged between 15 Swiss franks per square meter and 36 Swiss franks per square meter. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Zurich had the highest rent, at 36.5 Swiss franks per square meter. In 2023, Switzerland was the country with the highest share of population living in rented housing in Europe.

The average monthly rent of residential housing in Denmark was most expensive in the capital Copenhagen, amounting to 22.4 euros per square meter in 2023. Aarhus ranked second, with an average monthly rent costing nearly 16.1 euros per square meter in the same period.

The average rent for non-subsidized housing in Finland amounted to 16.28 euros per square meter in 2023. Helsinki was the city with the highest monthly rent, totaling over 22 euros per square meter. In the rest of the country, the average stood under 14 euros per square meter.

In 2024, the average apartment rent in Bulgaria ranged between three and nine euros per square meter. The province with the highest rents was Sofia City, where renting an apartment cost on average nine euros per square meter. Varna, Burgas, and Blagoevgrad had the second-highest rental price, at seven euros per square meter. In Bulgaria, less than 15 percent of households lived in a rented home. Nevertheless, the rental market has been growing in recent years, with rent prices rising faster than the average in the euro area.

At *** euros per month, London had the highest cost for renting a private coworking desk in 2024 among the 41 European cities ranked. Other high-ranking cities included Paris, Berlin, Munich, Dublin, and Rome, with costs exceeding *** euros.

One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer-driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land, and construction costs, all keep rental prices increasing. Renting in European cities In 2025, Munich was the most expensive city to rent a furnished studio among the 23 cities surveyed. At 1,457 euros per month, renting a studio in Munich cost nearly twice the price of a studio in Athens. For one-bedroom apartments or a furnished private room, the most expensive city was Amsterdam. Homeownership in Europe In many European countries owning your home is more commonplace than renting – for instance, in Romania, the homeownership rate is over 95 percent. In the UK, affordability of housing is one of the leading housing concerns, with the majority of adults agreeing that first-time buyers getting on a property ladder is a very or somewhat serious problem.

The United Kingdom (UK) is the most expensive European country for prime industrial rent. The monthly rent for industrial space in London Heathrow in the second quarter of 2025 cost **** euros per square meter. Switzerland, Norway, and Ireland, were the other European countries where the average annual cost of industrial prime rents in the capital city exceeded one ***euros per square meter.