More than a quarter of young people aged 15 to 29 in the EU were living in overcrowded homes in 2025.
Some 26.9% of people in that age group lived in households classed as overcrowded — meaning there are not enough rooms for the household size and composition — compared with 16.8% of the total population, Eurostat reported on Tuesday.
Overcrowding among young people fell with age, with 30.1% of those aged 15 to 19 affected, compared with 28.7% of 20 to 24-year-olds and 21.8% of 25 to 29-year-olds.
Romania recorded the highest overcrowding rate among 15 to 29-year-olds at 60.4%, followed by Latvia at 54.9% and Bulgaria at 52.8%.
The lowest rates were in Cyprus at 3.5%, Ireland at 7.4% and Malta at 7.7%.
Biggest gaps between young people and the wider population
In three EU countries, the difference between overcrowding among young people and the total population was at least 20 percentage points: Bulgaria (52.8% for young people versus 32.5% overall), Greece (48.4% versus 28.3%) and Romania (60.4% versus 40.4%).
