Cyprus stands out as one of the countries where young people stay in the parental home longer, leaving at one of the highest ages at 27.2 years old, according to data released by Eurostat.
However, a particularly low housing cost burden is also recorded for Cyprus: only 2.8% of young people aged 15-29 live in households spending more than 40% of their income on housing. This low rate, one of the lowest in the EU, is likely linked to the fact that young people remain in the parental home for longer.
In 2024, 9.7% of young people in the EU lived in households spending 40% or more of their disposable income on housing—the so-called housing cost overburden rate—while the same figure for the total population was 8.2%. Among EU countries, there were significant differences in this rate. Greece (30.3%) and Denmark (28.9%) recorded the highest housing cost overburden rates, far exceeding those in the Netherlands (15.3%), Germany (14.8%), and Sweden (13.5%). On the other hand, Croatia (2.1%), Cyprus (2.8%), and Slovenia (3.0%) had the lowest housing cost overburden rates.
In the EU, young people leave the parental home at an average age of 26.2 years, with significant variations between countries. With Cyprus above the EU average at 27.2 years, countries like Croatia (31.3 years), Slovakia (30.9 years), and Greece (30.7 years) see young people staying longer in the parental home, while in countries such as Finland (21.4 years), Denmark (21.7 years), and Sweden (21.9 years), they leave earlier.
According to Eurostat data, Cyprus combines the trend of young people staying longer in the parental home with a low housing cost burden, offering a relatively favourable situation compared to other European countries, where young people’s independence often comes with higher financial pressure.
(Source: CNA)
