Eurostat finds over a third of Romanians cannot cover unexpected costs

Eurostat's 2025 statistics reveal that 37.8% of Romanians are unable to absorb an unexpected expense, ranking the country fifth among EU members after Greece (50.5%), Latvia (43.7%), Bulgaria (42.4%) and Lithuania (41.1%). The share has fallen from 44% in 2019 but still exceeds the EU average of 29.2% for the same year. Across the EU, the share of people unable to meet surprise costs fell from a 2012 peak of 40% to 30.8% in 2019, rose to 32.5% during the pandemic and reached 30.0% in 2024.

Romania records the lowest mortgage or rent arrears in the bloc at 0.4%, reflecting a low mortgage uptake of 1.5% versus 58.1% in the Netherlands. However, when broader bills such as utilities and installment payments are included, 15.3% of Romanians are late on payments, compared with the EU average of 9.2%.