Croatians leave parental home latest in Europe, says new report

BRUSSELS 23 September 2025 (Hina) – Young people in Croatia are the latest in the European Union to move out of their parents’ homes, according to new data from Eurostat.

The figures, released on Tuesday, show that Croatians left the family home at an average age of 31.3 years in 2024, compared with the EU average of 26.2 years.

Other countries where young people tend to stay with their parents longer include Slovakia (30.9 years), Greece (30.7), Italy (30.1) and Spain (30.0).

By contrast, the youngest movers are in the Nordic countries – Finland (21.4), Denmark (21.7) and Sweden (21.9).

Housing costs a factor

The Eurostat report also highlighted differences in how much of their income young people spend on housing.

In 2024, 9.7% of EU residents aged 15–29 lived in households where housing costs consumed at least 40% of disposable income, compared with 8.2% of the total population.

The burden is highest in Greece (30.3%) and Denmark (28.9%), followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

The lowest rates were recorded in Croatia (2.1%), Cyprus (2.8%) and Slovenia (3.0%).

In more than half of EU member states, young people were more likely than the general population to face housing cost overburden.

The gap was widest in Denmark (14.3 percentage points higher among the young) and the Netherlands (8.4 points).

Patterns across Europe

The data suggest a link between the age of leaving home and the weight of housing costs. In countries where young people leave earlier, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Finland, the housing cost burden is often greater.

In contrast, countries where young people stay longer at home – including Croatia, Cyprus and Italy – tend to report lower levels of housing cost overburden.

Greece is the notable exception, combining a later average age of leaving with one of the highest housing cost burdens in the EU.