If we analyze the rent affordability index for the capitals of the 31 countries analyzed, it can be seen that Bucharest is in position 9 out of 31. Thus, with an average net salary of just over 1,200 euros per month and an average rent of 359 euros, the city of Bucharest has a rent affordability index of 0.3. This index is identical to that recorded by Copenhagen, where both average net wages and rents are about 3.2 times higher, according to data provided by the Numbeo platform.
At European level, the most affordable rents are registered in Bern (affordability index 0.15), Paris (0.22) and Brussels (0.22), especially due to average net salaries of over 4,000 euros per month, while with average rents of around 900 euros. A better index than the one in Bucharest is also registered in Stockholm, Vienna and Luxembourg (all with 0.27) and Riga (0.29).
At the same time, the data show that Bucharest has the most affordable rents in the eastern half of the European continent, and the main explanation is that the level of rents in these capitals is generally more than twice as high as in the capital of Romania, while salaries in these capitals are only about 50% higher.
This category includes, for example, Sofia (0.31) or Budapest (0.42), but also capitals such as Rome (0.37), Bratislava (0.41), Warsaw (0.42), Ljubljana (0 .43), Prague (0.44) or Athens (0.45). Also, as in the case of the country analysis, the most difficult to access rents are in Lisbon (0.76), as the capital of Portugal has average rents of around 950 euros per month and average salaries of around 1,260 euros, with only 4% higher than average salaries in Bucharest.
In Romania, rents have increased by 34% in the last five years
Data compiled by Eurostat shows that rents have risen disproportionately in Europe over the past five years, with the biggest increases reported in countries in the eastern half of the continent.
The largest percentage increase in rent was recorded in Hungary, where rents are 50% higher compared to 2019, and Romania’s neighbors are closely followed by Poland (+47%) and Slovenia (+46%).
With an average increase of almost 34% in the last five years, Romania ranks 6th in this top, being surpassed by the above-mentioned states and Lithuania and Malta, both with increases of almost 38%. At the same time, there are many Central European states where rents have increased between 20% – 30%, and among them are Bulgaria (+27%), the Czech Republic (+26%), Austria (23%) or Belgium (+ 20%). A 20% increase was also reported by Portugal, the European country where rents are the least affordable. Also, most Nordic countries reported increases between 10% – 20%, in the context where rent prices are among the highest here anyway.
On the other hand, data compiled by Eurostat shows that there are 8 states where rents have increased by less than 10% in the last five years. This list includes, for example, Denmark, with an increase of 9%, in the context in which the Nordic country currently has the best accessibility index in Europe.
However, such smaller increases are also reported by four of the largest European economies: Germany (+9%), Spain (+8%), Italy (+7%) and France (+7%). Also in this category we find Switzerland and Luxembourg, which had increases of about 8% in the last 5 years, in the context where rents are among the highest on the continent.
For the 27 member states of the European Union, rents have increased by an average of 11% in the last five years, which means that in Romania rents have increased at a rate three times higher compared to the European average.
Eurostat data on these percentage developments are based on a rent index that had an initial value of 100 in 2015, an index that was later indexed to the average percentage increase in rents in the respective country.