Cost-of-living rankings · Eurostat HICP 2023

Cheapest Countries for Rent & Housing

Ranked by housing price level — usually the largest single share of a household budget.

By ·Eurostat source →

#1 Cheapest rent
Bulgaria
Average index
89
Top–bottom spread
123
Countries ranked
31

Top 10 — Cheapest rent

Cheapest Countries for Rent & Housing (top 10)

1. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria452. 🇷🇴 Romania463. 🇵🇱 Poland504. 🇭🇺 Hungary545. 🇸🇰 Slovakia576. 🇱🇹 Lithuania587. 🇬🇷 Greece608. 🇱🇻 Latvia609. 🇨🇿 Czechia6410. 🇭🇷 Croatia65

Each value is the price level relative to the EU-27 average of 100. Below 100 is cheaper than the EU norm — lower is better for residents.

Full ranking — all 31 countries

Rank Country Rent index
1 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 45
2 🇷🇴 Romania 46
3 🇵🇱 Poland 50
4 🇭🇺 Hungary 54
5 🇸🇰 Slovakia 57
6 🇱🇹 Lithuania 58
7 🇬🇷 Greece 60
8 🇱🇻 Latvia 60
9 🇨🇿 Czechia 64
10 🇭🇷 Croatia 65
11 🇸🇮 Slovenia 70
12 🇵🇹 Portugal 76
13 🇨🇾 Cyprus 78
14 🇪🇪 Estonia 78
15 🇪🇸 Spain 78
16 🇮🇹 Italy 85
17 🇲🇹 Malta 86
18 🇸🇪 Sweden 90
19 🇫🇷 France 96
20 🇩🇪 Germany 97
21 🇫🇮 Finland 102
22 🇧🇪 Belgium 106
23 🇦🇹 Austria 108
24 🇳🇱 Netherlands 112
25 🇳🇴 Norway 113
26 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 115
27 🇮🇸 Iceland 120
28 🇩🇰 Denmark 126
29 🇮🇪 Ireland 142
30 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 150
31 🇨🇭 Switzerland 168

How to read this ranking

Each figure is a comparative price level: what a standardised basket of goods and services costs locally, with the EU-27 average normalised to 100. Because it is purchasing-power-comparable, it strips out exchange-rate distortion and lets you compare countries directly. The spread from Bulgaria (45) to Switzerland (168) is 123 index points — a large real difference in everyday costs. For affordability, weigh this against the best-value ranking, which combines income and cost.

The mid-table country, Italy (85), is a useful reference: countries above it are cheaper than typical, those below pricier. A country can rank well on one category and poorly on another — cheap groceries do not guarantee cheap rent. Open any country profile for the full per-category breakdown.

Other rankings

Cheapest overall →Most expensive →Best value →Cheapest groceries →Cheapest transport →Cheapest healthcare →

Source: Eurostat — comparative price levels (HICP) and median equivalised net income Eurostat — comparative price levels (HICP) and median equivalised net income Price-level indices, EU-27 = 100, 2023.

Read our methodology — how these indices are sourced and computed.