The average for 2021 based on 41 countries was 107.05 index points. The highest value was in Switzerland: 211.98 index points and the lowest value was in Belarus: 40.99 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

According to a mid-2024 index, Switzerland was the most expensive country to live in Europe, with an index score of 74.9. Iceland followed in the second place with around 13 points less.

The average for 2021 based on 27 countries was 115.11 index points. The highest value was in Luxembourg: 184.36 index points and the lowest value was in Romania: 59.9 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

A table comparing the cost of living in various European Union countries, including expenses for rent, utilities, food, and transportation in major cities

The cost of constructing housing in Austria in 2024 was nearly 3.6 percent higher than in the previous year. Meanwhile, the cost of home construction in the Netherlands and Germany increased at a somewhat slower rate than in 2023. In 2023, London was one of the cities with the highest apartment construction costs in western Europe.

Graph and download economic data for Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices: Actual Rentals for Housing for Euro Area (19 Countries) (CP0410EZ19M086NEST) from Dec 1999 to Feb 2025 about harmonized, rent, Euro Area, Europe, CPI, housing, price index, indexes, and price.

This table contains figures on the housing costs of private households in independent homes. Households living (temporarily) in a house free of charge are not included. The figures are presented for both owners and tenants and can be further divided into various characteristics of the household and the dwelling. Data available as of year: 2009 Status of the figures: final. Changes as of 4 April 2019: None, this table was stopped. When will new figures be published? This table is stopped. This table is stopped as a consequence of a revision of the income data in 2015. The housing costs are based on this income data. Therefore it is no longer possible to determine the housing costs for WoON 2018 in the same way as before. Consequently the housing costs for WoON 2012 and 2015 have also been revised. For WoON 2009 this however was not possible, since 2011 was the last year of the revision. Subsequently the housing costs for WoON 2012, 2015 and 2018 are included in the new table Housing costs of households; dwelling characteristics, region. See the link in paragraph 3.

Graph and download economic data for Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices: Actual Rentals for Housing for European Union (27 Countries from 2020) (CP0410EU272020M086NEST) from Dec 2000 to Feb 2025 about EU, harmonized, rent, Europe, CPI, housing, price index, indexes, and price.

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in a household where the total housing costs (net of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by age groups.

This indicator is defined as the median of the distribution of the share of total housing costs (net of housing allowances) in the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by age group.

CPI Housing Utilities in European Union remained unchanged at 141.15 points in February. This dataset provides - European Union Cpi Housing & Utilities- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Real Residential Property Prices for Euro area (QXMR628BIS) from Q1 1975 to Q3 2024 about Euro Area, Europe, residential, HPI, housing, real, price index, indexes, and price.

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in a household where the total housing costs (net of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by degree of urbanisation. Copyright notice and free re-use of data on: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/about-us/policies/copyright

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in a household where the total housing costs (net of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by sex.

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in a household where the total housing costs (net of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by income quintile.

Analysis of ‘Housing cost overburden rate by household type - EU-SILC survey’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/9h7bs2nfebyfmvnnl6qcq on 30 September 2021.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in a household where the total housing costs (net of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by household type.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Share of housing costs in disposable household income, by type of household and income group

Abstract (en): These data were gathered in order to determine the cost of living as well as the cost of production in selected industries in the United States and several Western European countries. The study is comprised of nine industries (cotton and woolen textiles, glass, pig iron, bar iron, steel, bituminous coal, coke, and iron ore) and contains family-level information on the household composition, income and expenditures of workers in these industries. Additional topics covered include sources of income, ages and sex of children, detailed occupation of the household head, detailed expenditures for food as well as nonfood items, and characteristics of the family's dwelling units. Industrial workers and their families in 24 states in the United States and in 5 European nations (France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Belgium). Smallest Geographic Unit: country 2006-12-07 The Analytic Variables data file has been revised to correct various discrepancies found in the original file. Additional data including various average price indices, were also added to the file as well as SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The original codebooks are now available in PDF format. (1) Units of measurement for variables describing income, expenditure, and goods consumed can be found in the codebook. (2) For variable OCC464 (464 Occupation Codes) the following codes are undocumented: 206, 207, 247, and 503. (3) The data file for Part 2 is a text file containing interviewer comments which provide additional information about the household. There are no setup files to accompany the Part 2 data file.

This indicator is defined as the percentage of the population living in a household where the total housing costs (net of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by poverty status.

The average transaction price of new housing in Europe was the highest in Norway, whereas existing homes were the most expensive in Austria. Since there is no central body that collects and tracks transaction activity or house prices across the whole continent or the European Union, not all countries are included. To compile the ranking, the source weighed the transaction prices of residential properties in the most important cities in each country based on data from their national offices. For example, in Germany, the cities included were Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Berlin. House prices have been soaring, with Sweden topping the ranking Considering the RHPI of houses in Europe (the price index in real terms, which measures price changes of single-family properties adjusted for the impact of inflation), however, the picture changes. Sweden, Luxembourg and Norway top this ranking, meaning residential property prices have surged the most in these countries. Real values were calculated using the so-called Personal Consumption Expenditure Deflator (PCE), This PCE uses both consumer prices as well as consumer expenditures, like medical and health care expenses paid by employers. It is meant to show how expensive housing is compared to the way of living in a country. Home ownership highest in Eastern Europe The home ownership rate in Europe varied from country to country. In 2020, roughly half of all homes in Germany were owner-occupied whereas home ownership was at nearly 97 percent in Romania or around 90 percent in Slovakia and Lithuania. These numbers were considerably higher than in France or Italy, where homeowners made up 65 percent and 72 percent of their respective populations.For more information on the topic of property in Europe, visit the following pages as a starting point for your research: real estate investments in Europe and residential real estate in Europe.