Rents in Bucharest and Cluj among the highest increases in Europe

Rental prices are rising rapidly across Europe, with Bucharest and Cluj among the cities in the European Union with the highest increases, according to the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania. In Cluj, rents in 2023 were 80% higher than in 2015, while in Bucharest the increase for the same period was 51%. Of the cities included in this study, only Berlin and Athens saw higher average price increases for one-bedroom apartments. The data comes from the price aggregator database numbeo.com.

Recent years have seen a massive acceleration in internal migration in all European Union countries, mainly to large cities. To make these moves economically sustainable, newcomers need to earn enough to cover their living costs, including housing. In fact, average incomes in cities have also risen significantly over the same period. In Bucharest, average incomes rose from €483 in 2015 to €956 in 2023, an increase of approximately 98%, while in Cluj, incomes rose from €421 in 2015 to €962 in 2023, an increase of approximately 128%. In contrast, income growth in other large European cities was lower.

On average, a Bucharest resident pays approximately 53% of their monthly income to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the city center, while a Cluj resident pays approximately 55% of their monthly income for the same type of apartment. Of the cities studied, only Athens exceeds 50% of the average monthly income for renting an apartment in the city center. In contrast, in Sofia, the rent for a central one-bedroom apartment would represent 42% of the average monthly income, in Berlin 41%, and in Lyon approximately 38%.

This change reflects the fact that, in general, average incomes in Bucharest and Cluj have risen slightly more than rents. This dynamic most likely also reflects the changing economic structure of these cities, given that average income inevitably hides significant inequality. The good news in this context is that, although Bucharest and Cluj residents will spend more than 50% of their income in 2023 to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the city center, this percentage is down from previous years, when rents accounted for as much as 60% of average income, or even 70% in 2015.

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Data processing and text design: Daniel Sandu

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL