If you’re waiting…Cypriots move out at 27

Young people in Cyprus leave home at 27.2, a little below the European Union average of 26.5, but a looming recession could add a few years, according to Eurostat.

With a cost-of-living crisis, inflation, high energy costs and rising rents and mortgage rates, parents may be waiting a lot longer for their children to leave home in the future.

This average age varies greatly among EU states.

In 2021, the oldest average ages, all at 30 years or higher, were recorded in Portugal (33.6 years), Croatia (33.3), Slovakia (30.9), Greece (30.7) and Bulgaria (30.3).

By contrast, Sweden (19.0 years), Finland (21.2), Denmark (21.3), and Estonia (22.7) recorded the lowest average ages, all under 23.

In most northern and western countries, young people left the parental home in their early to mid-twenties, while in southern and eastern countries, the average age was in the late twenties or early thirties.

In the EU, males left the parental household at 27.4 years and females at a younger 25.5.

This trend was observed in all countries, which means that young women moved out of the parental household earlier than young men.

On average, men left their parental home after age 30 in 11 EU countries (Croatia, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Malta, Spain, Romania, and Poland).

This is the case for women in only two countries (Portugal and Croatia).

The widest gender gap was found in Romania, where young males left at 30.3 years and females at 25.6 years (4.7-year gender gap), followed by Bulgaria (3.5), with males moving out at 32 and females at 28.5 years.

Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland recorded the narrowest gaps between young males and females leaving the parental home: 0.4, 0.5 and 0.9 years, respectively.

The gender gap was more pronounced in countries where young people left the parental home later and less apparent in countries where they left earlier.

In Cyprus, on average, young men left the parental home at 28 and women left at 26.5, a difference of 1.5 years.