ATHENS, November 2026 — Greece again has the highest housing cost overburden rate in Europe, with 26.4% of people spending more than 40% of their disposable income on housing.
That is more than three times the EU average of 7.7% in 2025, according to Eurostat data analysed by Euronews Business. The comparison covers the 27 EU members, two EFTA states and five candidate countries.
The Greek housing cost overburden rate did ease, however. It fell from 28.9% in 2024, but Greece still sits far ahead of every other country with data.
How Greece compares on housing cost overburden
Denmark comes second in the EU at 14.7%. Germany (11.2%) and Sweden (10.8%) are also well above the EU average.
Read more: Athens Rental Shortage Deepens as Listings Fall up to 26.9% in a Year
Outside the EU, the rate is high in Switzerland (15.3%) and Norway (13.5%). Turkey records 10%, while Montenegro (8.7%) and Serbia (7.9%) are also above average.
In contrast, Cyprus has the lowest rate in Europe, at just 2.4%. Croatia (3.2%), Slovenia (3.5%) and Slovakia (3.5%) are also low.
Overall, more than 34 million people in the EU live in households facing housing cost overburden. EU house prices rose by 69% on average between 2015 and the second quarter of 2026, Eurostat says.
Why housing costs bite harder in Greece
Eurostat counts rent or mortgage interest as housing costs. It also counts utilities, insurance, maintenance and taxes, net of housing allowances.
Dr Hannah Widmer of ETH Zürich told Euronews that the main driver of housing cost overburden is housing costs rising faster than modest income growth, especially for lower earners.
She said the rate depends on how many people rent privately, on welfare systems and on the wider economy. Still, she warned that overburden means something very different in Greece than in Switzerland.
Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen of Aalborg University agreed that the reasons in Greece, Switzerland and Denmark are not the same. The money left after rent, she said, varies widely between them.
Dr Marietta Haffner of TU Delft said rising energy costs are likely to be a main driver of housing costs next year.
For Greek households, the figures land as house prices keep rising, while wages remain well below the EU average.
Source: Euronews
