Europe's cost of living crisis: This is how much more rent you are paying in your country

Those who have been renting a room or an apartment in Europe in the past 10 years may have noticed that their monthly fees have recently gone higher, while those new to the rental market might have no idea that things used to be a lot easier before - at least on their finances.

Europe’s rental prices have increased by a staggering 17.6 per cent in the past 10 years. Amid the backdrop of rising inflation on top of an energy crisis that’s threatening to leave many households unable to pay their bills this winter, the continent has seen a growth of 1.7 per cent in the past three months alone compared to the same period in 2021.

According to the latest data by Eurostat, rents have been growing steadily since 2010, while the housing market had some ups and downs before starting spiralling upwards in 2015.

Rents grew almost everywhere in Europe, but nowhere have they risen as dramatically as in Estonia.

The Baltic state recorded a rental price increase of 214 per cent, as an influx of people to the country’s biggest cities, including Tallinn, pushed demand up while supply remained limited.

This situation was recently exacerbated by the arrival of tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion in their country who needed housing.

Following Estonia in the race to the top is neighbouring Baltic state Lithuania, where rents are now 139 per cent higher than they were in 2010.

Renting a place in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius has become near impossible, to the point that the country’s lawmakers are considering introducing a price cap on rent.

According to the Baltic News Network, students are the ones who are suffering the most from these rent hikes, with a budget apartment in Vilnius (including a bathroom and the