Nearly three in ten Europeans cannot afford an unexpected bill
At 15.3 per cent, the Netherlands has the lowest share among the EU countries mentioned, according to new Eurostat figures for 2025.
Listen to this article
There is no audio version yet. Request one and an AI voice will read the article aloud.
Read by an AI voice.
Nearly 30 per cent of the EU population could not cover an unexpected financial expense in 2025. Eurostat reports that the share fell from 30.0 per cent in 2024 to 29.2 per cent in 2025, while the Netherlands had the lowest share among the EU countries in the publication, at 15.3 per cent.
The figure concerns people unable to pay an unexpected financial expense. It therefore measures one aspect of economic security, not income, poverty or directly whether households can meet their ordinary bills. Eurostat describes being able to absorb financial setbacks, alongside keeping up with regular payments, as a separate component of quality of life.
In the Netherlands, the share was 15.3 per cent. That was the lowest percentage in Eurostat’s comparison. According to Eurostat, Malta and Czechia followed, both at 18.7 per cent. At the other end of the ranking was Greece at 50.5 per cent, followed by Latvia at 43.7 per cent and Bulgaria at 42.4 per cent.
Show the figures
| Share of population | |
|---|---|
| EU | 29.2% |
| The Netherlands | 15.3% |
| Greece | 50.5% |
| Latvia | 43.7% |
| Bulgaria | 42.4% |
For the European Union as a whole, there was a slight improvement: 29.2 per cent in 2025 compared with 30.0 per cent in 2024. Eurostat presents this as a share of the population in private households. These percentages alone do not show how much money a household is short of, which expense is considered unexpected or how long someone might be able to cope with financial problems.
The Dutch result is therefore relatively favourable, but it does not mean that financial vulnerability has disappeared. According to this measure, nearly one in six residents could not afford an unexpected expense. Moreover, the EU average is not an average of Dutch households and says nothing about differences between income groups within a country.
Eurostat links economic security to the broader concept of quality of life. In the same publication, the statistics office also discusses physical safety, but that is a different indicator and does not explain the differences in financial resilience. The figures should therefore not be read as a ranking of general prosperity.
The question behind the news is who benefits from the slight improvement and how sustainable it is. The source shows that the EU result improved in one year, but this news publication gives no cause for the decline. A relatively low national percentage does not rule out individual vulnerability. Differences within countries may be relevant to policy choices.
Also show where in Europe and in the world
Both sides of the figures
▲ Bright spots
- The EU share fell from 30.0 per cent in 2024 to 29.2 per cent in 2025, according to Eurostat.
- At 15.3 per cent, the Netherlands had the lowest share in the EU comparison mentioned.
▼ Concerns
- 29.2 per cent of the EU population could not cover an unexpected financial expense in 2025.
- In Greece, the share was 50.5 per cent, well above the EU figure.
Critical note
The indicator measures financial resilience in the face of an unexpected expense, not actual income, purchasing power or general poverty. Eurostat gives no cause in this publication for the decline from 30.0 to 29.2 per cent and the EU total does not show how large the differences within countries are.
Who notices what
- Households
- A lower national share does not mean that individual households always have a financial buffer; in the Netherlands, 15.3 per cent could not afford an unexpected expense according to this measure.
- Businesses
- The figures may point to differences in customers’ financial vulnerability, but Eurostat does not measure consumer demand or turnover.
- Government
- Policymakers can place this international measure of economic security alongside data on income distribution and regular payment problems.
Every point comes from the article’s sources and was included in the fact check.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The percentages, periods and description of the indicator come directly from the Eurostat publication. The text avoids causal conclusions not drawn by the source and makes the distinction from poverty and regular payments explicit.
- confirmed 29.2 per cent of the EU population could not cover an unexpected financial expense in 2025. — Eurostat explicitly gives this percentage. source
- confirmed The EU share fell from 30.0 per cent in 2024 to 29.2 per cent in 2025. — Eurostat gives both percentages and years. source
- confirmed At 15.3 per cent, the Netherlands had the lowest share in the publication. — Eurostat names the Netherlands, at 15.3 per cent, as the lowest of the countries mentioned. source
- confirmed Greece, Latvia and Bulgaria had 50.5, 43.7 and 42.4 per cent respectively. — All three percentages appear in the Eurostat publication. source
- confirmed The indicator does not directly measure income or general poverty. — This follows from the indicator as described by Eurostat; the article presents it as a qualification, not as a new figure. source
Editor's note
Eurostat is the primary source and publishes the figures for 2025. The indicator measures the ability to absorb unexpected expenses, not general poverty, income or purchasing power; no causes for the annual decline are given.Sources
- Almost 30% unable to cope with unexpected expenses — Eurostat
- Key figures on Europe – 2026 edition — Eurostat
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „eurostat financiële zekerheid”
- de Volkskrant — „eurostat financiële zekerheid”
- NU.nl — „eurostat financiële zekerheid”