Three out of ten Europeans are unable to cover unexpected expenses

According to the latest report from the European Statistical Office, a significant portion of the EU population continues to experience financial difficulties: in 2024, one in three residents living in a private household could not cope with unforeseen expenses.

Despite a slight decrease in this indicator—by 1.2 percentage points compared to 2023—this situation remains a serious social problem, partly related to dampening inflation.

Among EU countries, this problem is particularly acute in Bulgaria and Latvia—there more than 45% of people reported being unable to cope with emergency expenses (45.6% and 45.3%, respectively).

In contrast, the situation in the Netherlands is significantly better: only 16.9% of the population faced this inability.

Moreover, another form of financial vulnerability is common: many cannot afford a one-week vacation away from home each year. The share of such people in the EU is 27%. The highest rates are in Romania (58.6%), Greece (46.0%), Bulgaria (41.4%), and Hungary (39.3%), while in Sweden this figure is only 11.6%, and in Luxembourg—8.9%.

The situation in Cyprus is particularly severe. There, 12.5% of the population face material deprivation, higher than the EU average (9.2%).

Furthermore, 33.2% of Cypriots cannot afford a vacation, compared to 27% on average in the EU, and 34.8% cannot cover unexpected expenses, while across Europe this figure is 30%.

Additional difficulties are reflected in other aspects of life: 14.6% of the Cypriot population cannot keep their home warm in winter (against 9.2% in the EU), 1.2% cannot afford to eat meat or chicken every two days (significantly below the European 8.5%), and 1.9% do not own a car—also below the EU average (5.6%).

These figures indicate persistent serious social and economic inequalities between and within EU countries. Overall, in 2024, about 93.3 million people, or 21% of the EU population, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

This situation may indicate either a threat of poverty due to societal changes, significant material deprivation, or life under unemployment or underemployment.