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November 12, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Generational Renewal in Farming Moves Up Irish Presidency AgendaOACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly Presses Brussels on Fair TradeEIB Investment Survey Shows 85% of EU Firms Kept on SpendingExtended EUMAM Ukraine Mandate Adds Kyiv Presence Through 2028DSA Election Guidelines Bring Deepfake Labels to Video FeedsZaharieva Steers EU Research Security Toward Binding Rules In 2026Deported Ukrainian Children Top Parliament Agenda Before Key VoteConnecting Europe Facility Bid Seeks €91 Billion For Rail And GridsLebanon Security Mission Races the Clock as UNIFIL Winds DownMoldova EU Accession Sprint Puts Chisinau Ahead of KyivBlack Sea Maritime Security Hub Gets €50 Million PushInward FDI Data Show US Investors Lead in 14 EU CountriesHorizon Europe 2028-2034 Funding Clash Reaches ParliamentDrone Strategy Review Finds EU Single Market Stuck On PaperNew Canada EU Alliance Pairs Data Rules With Defence LinksSupermarket Cyberattacks Expose EU Gap On Old ControllersStand-Alone European Social Fund Wins €124 Billion Backing From MEPsGreenhouse Gas Emissions Fall 1.6 percent As Nine Capitals Drift Off TrackHumanitarian Action Reform Puts Starvation Warfare in EU SightsSerbia Accession Talks Get a Fresh Start After Vučić Loses PowerGenerational Renewal in Farming Moves Up Irish Presidency AgendaOACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly Presses Brussels on Fair TradeEIB Investment Survey Shows 85% of EU Firms Kept on SpendingExtended EUMAM Ukraine Mandate Adds Kyiv Presence Through 2028DSA Election Guidelines Bring Deepfake Labels to Video FeedsZaharieva Steers EU Research Security Toward Binding Rules In 2026Deported Ukrainian Children Top Parliament Agenda Before Key VoteConnecting Europe Facility Bid Seeks €91 Billion For Rail And GridsLebanon Security Mission Races the Clock as UNIFIL Winds DownMoldova EU Accession Sprint Puts Chisinau Ahead of KyivBlack Sea Maritime Security Hub Gets €50 Million PushInward FDI Data Show US Investors Lead in 14 EU CountriesHorizon Europe 2028-2034 Funding Clash Reaches ParliamentDrone Strategy Review Finds EU Single Market Stuck On PaperNew Canada EU Alliance Pairs Data Rules With Defence LinksSupermarket Cyberattacks Expose EU Gap On Old ControllersStand-Alone European Social Fund Wins €124 Billion Backing From MEPsGreenhouse Gas Emissions Fall 1.6 percent As Nine Capitals Drift Off TrackHumanitarian Action Reform Puts Starvation Warfare in EU SightsSerbia Accession Talks Get a Fresh Start After Vučić Loses Power

Unexpected Expenses Remain Out of Reach for 29.2 percent of EU Residents

Þorsteinn Sigurðarson
Legislative Tracker, Statistics (Eurostat)

Patras: Almost three in ten people in the European Union could not cover unexpected expenses in 2025, according to new Eurostat data released on 11 November 2026. The share stood at 29.2%, down slightly from 30% a year earlier.

The figure measures whether a household can pay an unplanned bill, such as a car repair or a broken boiler, from its own resources. It forms part of the EU statistics on income and living conditions. Policymakers use it as an early signal of financial fragility that headline income data can hide.

Greece recorded the highest share by a wide margin. In 2025, 50.5% of Greek residents said they could not meet unexpected expenses, ahead of Latvia at 43.7% and Bulgaria at 42.4%. At the other end of the table, the Netherlands posted the lowest rate at 15.3%, followed by Malta and Czechia, both at 18.7%. Italy came in at 25.6%.

The longer trend looks better. The EU share has fallen by 8.2 percentage points between 2015 and 2025. It peaked at 40% in 2012, during the debt crisis, before easing to 30.8% in 2019. The pandemic then pushed it back up to 32.5% in 2020, and the decline has since resumed only slowly.

Eurostat also published a broader measure of payment arrears. This indicator tracks households behind on mortgage or rent, utility bills or loan instalments, and it excludes overdrafts, credit cards and informal loans. In 2025, 9.2% of the EU population had such arrears, unchanged from 2024 and down from 11.8% in 2015.

Poverty sharply shapes who struggles with unexpected expenses. People below the poverty line were 2.9 times more likely to fall into arrears than those above it, the same ratio as in 2024. Families also differed widely, with arrears reaching 17.5% among single adults with dependent children and 17% among couples with three or more children.

The numbers matter for several EU policy debates under way this autumn. The European Pillar of Social Rights sets a target to cut the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2030. Member states also report on energy affordability, since high utility bills often turn a small shock into arrears.

For Greece, the data underline a slow recovery. A decade after its bailout programmes, half of its residents still lack a buffer against unexpected expenses. That gap shapes how households respond to price rises and to any new slowdown.

The 2025 results suggest Europe has regained most of the ground lost in the pandemic, but not much more. With 29.2% of residents still unable to absorb unexpected expenses, a large part of the EU population remains one bill away from financial strain.

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