House prices in Portugal up 164% since 2015
The steepest housing inflation in Western Europe. A median Lisbon dwelling now costs 13.9 years of gross household income; Copenhagen requires 6.2.
★ OVERALL INDEX · 30 COUNTRIES · UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Tracking economic reality across Europe
Objective data. Transparent methodology. Comparing affordability, income and opportunity across European countries, with sources you can check and figures you will wish were wrong.
Europoor Score (overall index)EU-27
58.9/ 100
▲ +4.1 vs prior year · population-weighted
Contributors (index weights)
Housing Affordability30%
Disposable Income20%
Home Ownership (15–29)15%
Youth Unemployment15%
Tax Burden12%
Energy Costs8%
Methodology →ESO/26-014
Table 1 · The Europoor dataset · ranking, indicators, country files
The Data
Reference period 2024–2025 · higher = more europoor
| Rank | Country | Score | Housing | Youth U. | Assessment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 94.0 | 100 | 16.2% | Very Poor | ||
| 02 | 92.7 | 81 | 19.5% | Very Poor | ||
| 03 | 79.6 | 33 | 19.1% | Poor | ||
| 04 | 75.3 | 34 | 24.3% | Poor | ||
| 05 | 71.6 | 32 | 19.8% | Poor | ||
| 06 | 68.5 | 27 | 26.1% | Poor | ||
| 07 | 66.0 | 53 | 10.4% | Moderate | ||
| 08 | 65.4 | 35 | 24.9% | Moderate | ||
| 09 | 65.3 | 34 | 13.8% | Moderate | ||
| 10 | 65.2 | 57 | 13.9% | Moderate | ||
| 11 | 64.1 | 14 | 21.8% | Moderate | ||
| 12 | 62.5 | 55 | 15.3% | Moderate | ||
| 13 | 59.5 | 20 | 20.7% | Moderate | ||
| 14 | 58.5 | 73 | 8.8% | Moderate | ||
| 15 | 57.5 | 20 | 20.6% | Moderate | ||
| 16 | 48.9 | 20 | 7.1% | Adequate | ||
| 17 | 47.9 | 33 | 12.2% | Adequate | ||
| 18 | 47.4 | 27 | 14.1% | Adequate | ||
| 19 | 46.5 | 27 | 18.3% | Adequate | ||
| 20 | 45.8 | 50 | 8.8% | Adequate | ||
| 21 | 45.4 | 7 | 17.4% | Adequate | ||
| 22 | 45.1 | 32 | 12.1% | Adequate | ||
| 23 | 44.8 | 55 | 11.8% | Adequate | ||
| 24 | 40.7 | 29 | 21.6% | Comparatively Solvent | ||
| 25 | 39.4 | 20 | 13.1% | Comparatively Solvent | ||
| 26 | 36.5 | 3 | 14.8% | Comparatively Solvent | ||
| 27 | 33.9 | 11 | 11.5% | Comparatively Solvent | ||
| 28 | 29.4 | 22 | 14.0% | Comparatively Solvent | ||
| 29 | 28.0 | 30 | 9.6% | Comparatively Solvent | ||
| 30 | 28.0 | 0 | 13.5% | Comparatively Solvent |
Composite of Eurostat, OECD and Numbeo indicators; see Methodology. Housing = housing-affordability subscore (0–100). Select a country to open its file.
Europoor Score over time · EU-272015–2025
Use left and right arrow keys to read values by year.
Eurostat prc_hpi_a, prc_hicp_aind (CP041), une_rt_a. Historical index reconstructed from EU-27 aggregate series; see Methodology.
Change since 2015
▲ +19.7 pts
Direction of travel
Steadily worse
Table 3 · Bilateral comparison · lose the argument with receipts
Compare
VS
SpainVS
NetherlandsDifferences signed toward ES| Indicator | Spain | Netherlands | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europoor Score (overall) | 65.4 | 45.8 | +19.6 ▲ | |
| Rent (1-bed, city centre) | €1,364 | €2,317 | −€953 ▼ | |
| Years of income to buy a home | 8.5 | 7.5 | +1.0 ▲ | |
| Disposable income (PPS, median) | €22,408 | €29,714 | −€7,306 ▲ | |
| Owner-occupied housing (15–29) | 71.5% | 58.4% | +13.1pp ▼ | |
| Youth unemployment (15–24) | 24.9% | 8.8% | +16.1pp ▲ | |
| Tax burden (total, % of GDP) | 38.1% | 39.4% | −1.3pp ▼ | |
| Electricity (€/kWh, household) | €0.25 | €0.24 | +€0.01 ▲ | |
| GDP per capita (nominal) | €34,240 | €64,710 | −€30,470 ▲ | |
| Net migration (per 1,000) | +11.8 | +5.2 | +6.6 ▼ |
Eurostat, OECD, Numbeo; latest available. ▲ = Spain worse off, ▼ = Spain better off. The Office extends its sympathies to Spain.
Table 4 · Relocation calculator · where the money lasts
Where Should I Move?
On €22,408, your money stretches furthest in Latvia+€10,067 vs Spain
| # | Country | Rent (€/yr) | Power (€/yr) | Money left | vs home | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Latvia | €6,336 | €844 | €15,229 | +€10,067 | |
| 02 |  Romania | €7,248 | €994 | €14,166 | +€9,005 | |
| 03 |  Greece | €7,488 | €840 | €14,080 | +€8,919 | |
| 04 |  Bulgaria | €8,448 | €469 | €13,491 | +€8,330 | |
| 05 |  Estonia | €8,436 | €742 | €13,230 | +€8,069 | |
| 06 |  Cyprus | €8,760 | €942 | €12,707 | +€7,545 | |
| 07 |  Croatia | €9,228 | €637 | €12,543 | +€7,382 | |
| 08 |  Lithuania | €9,192 | €756 | €12,460 | +€7,299 | |
| 09 |  Hungary | €9,576 | €399 | €12,433 | +€7,272 | |
| 10 |  Slovakia | €12,000 | €697 | €9,712 | +€4,550 | |
| 11 |  Slovenia | €12,084 | €742 | €9,582 | +€4,421 | |
| 12 |  Czechia | €12,768 | €1,008 | €8,632 | +€3,471 | |
| 13 |  Poland | €12,864 | €1,050 | €8,494 | +€3,333 | |
| 14 |  Italy | €13,152 | €1,099 | €8,157 | +€2,996 | |
| 15 |  Finland | €13,416 | €942 | €8,051 | +€2,889 | |
| 16 |  Austria | €13,572 | €1,141 | €7,695 | +€2,534 | |
| 17 |  Malta | €14,280 | €445 | €7,684 | +€2,522 | |
| 18 |  Belgium | €14,040 | €1,250 | €7,119 | +€1,957 | |
| 19 |  Germany | €15,804 | €1,267 | €5,337 | +€176 | |
| 20 | Spainyou | €16,368 | €879 | €5,162 | — | |
| 21 |  France | €16,632 | €868 | €4,908 | −€254 | |
| 22 |  Portugal | €16,968 | €830 | €4,611 | −€551 | |
| 23 |  Sweden | €18,720 | €1,071 | €2,617 | −€2,545 | |
| 24 |  Norway | €20,688 | €697 | €1,024 | −€4,138 | |
| 25 |  Denmark | €20,808 | €830 | €771 | −€4,391 | |
| 26 |  Luxembourg | €23,592 | €707 | €-1,891 | −€7,053 | |
| 27 |  Ireland | €25,848 | €1,355 | €-4,794 | −€9,956 | |
| 28 | Netherlands | €27,804 | €854 | €-6,250 | −€11,412 | |
| 29 |  Switzerland | €30,660 | €1,085 | €-9,337 | −€14,499 | |
| 30 |  United Kingdom | €31,440 | €1,050 | €-10,082 | −€15,244 |
"Money left" = your stated net income minus a year of city-centre rent (1-bed, Numbeo) and household electricity (3,500 kWh × Eurostat price). It assumes you keep the same income and excludes tax, food and transport — a first-order guide to where the rent eats less, not a full cost-of-living model.
Table 5 · Scenario modelling · the what-if desk
What If?
Hypothetical inputsdrag to perturb · ±50%
±0%
±0%
±0%
±0%
±0%
±0%
EU-27 Europoor Score, recomputed
58.9—
No scenario applied
Baseline. No scenario applied.Drag a lever or pick a preset above. The Office will re-run the published index on your hypothetical inputs — it does not forecast, it reprices.
Hypothetical recomputation of the published methodology (lib/score.ts) on perturbed inputs — a projection, not a measurement, and not advice. Indicators are min–max normalised across countries, so a uniform EU-wide change moves relative scores less than the headline percentage suggests. ▲ = more europoor, ▼ = less. Baseline reflects the current retrieval.
Annex B · Press Monitoring
Press Monitoring
Live Retrieval
2026-10-26 20:47 UTC
12 ITEMS · 3 OUTLETS
The Office does not generate news. It monitors external reporting and records developments consistent with the indicators published here. Inclusion is not endorsement.
- 2026-10-2616:54 UTCCOST OF LIVINGWhat the claw arcade game tells us about the cost of living crisis | Zoe Williams
- 2026-10-2611:00 UTCCOST OF LIVING‘We don’t have inflation’? Five charts show the US economic reality of Trump’s second term so far
- 2026-10-2513:43 UTCCOST OF LIVINGVolkswagen to build $4bn Audi SUV factory in US despite job cuts at home
- 2026-10-2512:00 UTCCOST OF LIVINGInterest rates unlikely to reach 4.75% by next summer, say City economists
- 2026-10-2510:03 UTCHOUSINGBudget to include £1bn for social and affordable housing
- 2026-10-2507:12 UTCENERGY POVERTYHeating oil costs 'more than double' ahead of winter
- 2026-10-2407:08 UTCCOST OF LIVINGProtests against cost of living expected in Italy under heavy security
- 2026-10-2307:25 UTCCOST OF LIVINGUK consumer confidence falls at fastest rate since Brexit vote as cost of living bites
- 2026-10-2211:00 UTCENERGY POVERTYToo little, too late: Trump takes on gas prices as fuel costs hamper his midterm hopes
- 2026-10-2116:32 UTCCOST OF LIVINGA plan to ensure energy is affordable for all | Letters
- 2026-10-2113:21 UTCFISCALDouble blow to Healey as inflation rises to 3.5% and monthly deficit hits £24bn
- 2026-10-0812:15 UTCFISCALEU trade envoy eyes yawning goods deficit on first day of China visit
Retrieved via the GDELT Project and public RSS/Atom feeds; headlines reproduced for monitoring purposes and © their respective publishers. Classifications and notes are the Office’s own. The headlines are real; we did not need to write any of them.
Notes from the Directorate
Younger generations priced out across the west
Only 34% of people aged 15–29 in Germany (and 37% in Switzerland) live in owner-occupied housing. In the east the figure exceeds 85%, largely by remaining in it.
Youth unemployment exceeds 20% in seven countries
Romania (26.1%), Spain (24.9%), Sweden (24.3%), Finland (21.8%), Luxembourg (21.6%), Estonia (20.7%) and Italy (20.6%) all report more than one in five young people out of work.
Tax burden holds at record levels across the Union
Denmark (45.8%), France (45.3%) and Belgium (45.1%) lead the OECD area in taxes and social contributions as a share of GDP.
Annex A · Notes on compilation
Methodology & Sources
The Europoor Score is a composite index. Each indicator is min–max normalised to 0–100 across the 30 covered countries, with direction adjusted so that a higher value always indicates a population that is, in the technical sense, more europoor. Subscores are combined using the fixed weights opposite and rebased to a 28–94 scale. Population-weighted aggregation is used for EU-27 figures.
The housing-affordability subscore combines the house price-to-income ratio (55%) with the ratio of annualised city-centre rent to median disposable income in PPS (45%). The energy subscore expresses a standardised 3,500 kWh annual household bill as a share of median disposable income.
The historical EU-27 series is reconstructed from Eurostat aggregate series (house prices, actual rentals, youth unemployment) and anchored to the current score. It is an estimate; the direction of travel is not.
Retrieval. Eurostat-sourced indicators (disposable income, youth unemployment, tax burden, electricity prices, GDP, population, house price and rental indices) are retrieved from the Eurostat dissemination API and refreshed at least every six hours; the index is recomputed on each retrieval. Numbeo-derived indicators (rent, price-to-income) and the OECD ownership measure are compiled editions, updated with each reference release. The retrieval timestamp is published in the page footer.
Caveats. The young-ownership measure (OECD, ages 15–29) counts residence in any owner-occupied dwelling, including those owned by other household members, typically parents. The Office declines to classify this arrangement as a housing strategy. UK disposable income in PPS is an ESO estimate, as Eurostat ceased UK publication after 2018; UK tax data is OECD 2023. Estimates are flagged in the relevant country files.
The Office acknowledges that reality requires no exaggeration and confirms that none has been applied.
| Subscore | Weight |
|---|---|
| Housing Affordability | 30% |
| Disposable Income | 20% |
| Home Ownership (15–29) | 15% |
| Youth Unemployment | 15% |
| Tax Burden | 12% |
| Energy Costs | 8% |
| Indicator | Source |
|---|---|
| Rent (1-bed, city centre) | Numbeo · Cost of Living, capital/largest city, June 2026 |
| House price-to-income ratio | Numbeo · Property Prices Index, 2026 |
| Disposable income (PPS) | Eurostat · ilc_di03: median equivalised net disposable income, survey 2025 |
| Young adults in owner-occupied housing | OECD · Affordable Housing Database HM1.3 (EU-SILC), age 15–29, 2024 |
| Youth unemployment (15–24) | Eurostat / ONS · une_rt_a, 2025 annual; UK: ONS 16–24, Oct–Dec 2025 |
| Tax burden (% of GDP) | Eurostat / OECD · gov_10a_taxag: taxes and net social contributions, 2024 |
| Electricity (EUR/kWh) | Eurostat · nrg_pc_204: household band DC, all taxes included, 2025-S2 |
| GDP per capita (nominal) | Eurostat / ONS · nama_10_pc, 2025; UK converted from GBP (estimate) |
| House Price Index | Eurostat / ECB · prc_hpi_a, 2015 = 100; Greece: Bank of Greece via ECB |
| Net migration (per 1,000) | Eurostat / ONS · demo_gind CNMIGRATRT: crude rate incl. statistical adjustment, 2024; UK: ONS estimate |