The average age at which young people across the European Union left their parents’ home stood at 26.2 years in 2024, slightly down on the 26.3 recorded the previous year.
Since 2002, there has been little change in the average age at which young people leave home, ranging from a low of 26.1 years, recorded in 2019, and a high of 26.8 years in 2006, the Eurostat data showed.
Leaving home
However, young people in certain EU member states tend to leave home well above or below the European average.
In Croatia, for example, young people leave the family home at the age of 31.3, followed by Slovakia at 30.9, Greece at 30.7, Italy at 30.1, and Spain at 30.0.
The lowest averages were seen in Finland, at 21.4 years, Denmark at 21.7, and Sweden at 21.9.
Housing costs
Eurostat‘s data also indicated that housing costs disproportionately affect young people more than the general population. As of 2024, 9.7% of EU residents aged 15-29 lived in households spending 40% or more of their disposable income on housing – known as the housing cost overburden rate – while the same percentage for the total population was 8.2%.
The housing cost overburden rate for young people was highest in Greece (30.3%) and Denmark (28.9%), the data showed, well above countries such as the Netherlands (15.3%), Germany (14.8%) and Sweden (13.5%).
By contrast, Croatia, Cyprus, and Slovenia had the lowest housing cost overburden rates, at 2.1%, 2.8%, and 3.0%, respectively.
According to the data, in 16 EU member states, young people faced a higher housing cost overburden than the overall population, with Denmark showing the largest difference, of 14.3 percentage points.
Notably, countries in which young people tend to move out of the parental home later, such as Cyprus, Croatia, and Italy, tend to report lower levels of housing cost overburden. Greece is an outlier in this instance, however – despite young people leaving home later, the housing cost overburden remains high. Read more here.
Age at which young people move out of the family home, by EU member state (2024)
| Country | Age |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 26.2 |
| Bulgaria | 28.2 |
| Czechia | 25.8 |
| Denmark | 21.7 |
| Germany | 23.9 |
| Estonia | 22.4 |
| Ireland | 26.8 |
| Greece | 30.7 |
| Spain | 30.0 |
| France | 23.5 |
| Croatia | 31.3 |
| Italy | 30.1 |
| Cyprus | 27.2 |
| Latvia | 26.6 |
| Lithuania | 23.6 |
| Luxembourg | 26.9 |
| Hungary | 27.1 |
| Malta | 29.0 |
| Netherlands | 23.2 |
| Austria | 25.3 |
| Poland | 26.7 |
| Portugal | 28.9 |
| Romania | 27.3 |
| Slovenia | 28.9 |
| Slovakia | 30.9 |
| Finland | 21.4 |
| Sweden | 21.9 |
