In 2022, young people across the European Union left their parental home on average at the age of 26.4 years; in Estonia, the average age of those leaving was much lower at 22.7 years.
This average varied a lot among EU countries. The highest average ages, at 30 years or above, were recorded in Croatia, 33.4 years, Slovakia, 30.8, Greece, 30.7, Bulgaria and Spain, both 30.3, Malta, 30.1, and Italy, 30.0 years. In contrast, the lowest average ages were registered in Finland, 21.3 years, Sweden, 21.4, Denmark, 21.7, and Estonia, 22.7.
In all countries, young women moved out of the parental home on average earlier than young men. In the EU, on average, men left the parental home at the age of 27.3 years and women at 25.4 years in 2022. Men left their parental home, on average, after the age of 30 in nine member states: Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia, Spain, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Portugal. This was the case for women in only one country: Croatia.
In the space of 10 years, the average age of young people leaving their parental home increased in 14 EU countries, most notably in Croatia, +1.8 years, Greece, +1.7, and Spain, +1.6. In 2012, the lowest average in the EU was in Sweden, where young people left their parental home at 19.9 years old, however, in 10 years that average increased by 1.5 years.
At the EU level, between 2012 and 2022, the average age varied slightly, with the lowest being 26.2 years, 2019, and the highest 26.5 — in 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2021.
Source: BNS.
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