Young people in Greece leave their parental home after 30 years, while in the EU they leave – on average – after 26, according to Eurostat data released today.

Specifically, in 2023, young people across the EU left their parental home at an average age of 26.3, up from 26.4 in 2022.

Croats, Slovaks and Greeks take longer than all Europeans to leave their parents’ home. In particular, the highest average ages, 30 years and over, were recorded in Croatia (31.8 years), Slovakia (31), Greece (30.6), Spain (30.4), Bulgaria and Italy (both 30 years old). In contrast, the lowest average ages, all under 23, were recorded in Finland (21.4 years), Sweden and Denmark (both 21.8) and Estonia (22.8). It is followed by the Netherlands (23.3 years), France (23.7) and Germany (23.9).

In 2023, the percentage of young people aged 15-29 living in overcrowded households in the EU was 26%. This figure is 9.2 percentage points higher than the proportion of the total population living in overcrowded households in the EU (16.8%).

Among EU member states, in 2023 the highest percentage of young people living in overcrowded households was recorded in Romania (59.4%), Bulgaria (55.3%) and Latvia (54.8%). Conversely, the lowest percentages were recorded in Malta (3.9%), Cyprus (4%) and Ireland (4.4%).

In Greece, the percentage of young people living in overcrowded households rose to 46% in 2023, compared to 27.5% for the total population.

The largest differences between young people and the total population living in overcrowded households were recorded in Bulgaria (+20.4 pp), Romania (+19.4 pp) and Greece (+18.5 pp .).

“Overcrowded” is defined as a household that does not have a minimum number of rooms in proportion to its members. For example, if the household does not have a room for every single person aged 18 and over.