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Young Greeks leave the parental home at an average age of 30.9, the third-latest in the European Union, level with Slovakia and behind only Croatia at 31.5, according to Eurostat data.

Overcrowding is also acute. Some 50.1% of Greeks aged 15-19 live in homes judged overcrowded, meaning they lack enough rooms for the size and make-up of the household. The 20.1 percentage-point gap in overcrowding between young people and the general population is the EU’s second-widest, after Bulgaria.

Although many young people stay with their parents, by choice or necessity, to cut costs, housing remains unaffordable. Greece has one of the EU’s two highest rates of “housing cost overburden”: 25.6% of 15-29 year-olds live in households spending at least 40% of disposable income on housing. The rate peaks at 28.1% among 20-24 year-olds.

Across the EU, young people left home at an average age of 26.3 in 2025. Averages of 30 or above were recorded in Croatia, Slovakia, Greece, Spain and Italy, the last two at 30.2. The lowest, all under 23, were in Finland (21.3), Denmark (21.8), Estonia and Lithuania (both 22.7). Countries at both extremes tend to hold their positions over time, reflecting different traditions of generations living together.

In Croatia, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Poland and Cyprus, more than 95% of 16-19 year-olds and 60% of 20-24 year-olds lived with their parents or shared in household income. In Sweden, Denmark and Finland, the share among 20-24 year-olds was 42.7%, 26.3% and 22.3% respectively, falling to 10.5%, 5.4% and 5.5% among 25-29 year-olds.

Christos Katopodis