Europeans are struggling to make ends meet

Europe in a tailspin

Europeans are more pessimistic than at any time in the last ten years: Századvég’s Europe Project survey found that in 2025, 39% more people thought things were going in the wrong direction than those who thought they were going in the right direction.

The sharp downturn in the sense of prosperity in recent years is the result of Brussels’ misguided response to the war. Sanctions and financing for Ukraine have significantly reduced the EU’s economic room for manoeuvre. EU citizens have a bleak view of the Community’s competitiveness: one third of respondents believe that Europe is in decline, and almost half believe that it is stagnating.

The primary reason for negative perceptions is that the proportion of Europeans who face difficulties in making ends meet has increased significantly in recent years. In our previous publication, we pointed out that the increase in utility costs has left more than 65 million people in energy poverty in four years.

More and more European citizens are vulnerable

The war and the wrong responses to it have pushed up not only energy prices but also loan interest rates, which is hitting households’ repayments on variable-rate loans. The sudden increase in loan repayments has left many Europeans facing serious challenges to their livelihoods: 28% had at least occasional difficulties with repayments.

Differences between Member States show that the extent of vulnerability was strongly determined not only by the financial capacity of the country concerned, but also by the indebtedness of citizens and the share of variable-rate loans. This explains why rising interest rates caused greater problems even in wealthy Scandinavian countries. However, in Hungary, households’ debt levels are low (compared to other EU countries), the proportion of variable-rate loans is low, and government measures prevent excessive indebtedness, so the problem is least acute in Hungary.

Rising utility costs and loan repayments have increased fixed expenses for families across Europe. In certain segments of society, incomes were unable to keep pace with rising prices, which posed existential challenges for many. According to the results of the survey, more than a third of Europeans find it difficult to make ends meet, and only a fifth are able to live comfortably. With fewer people exposed to energy poverty and excessive indebtedness in Hungary, fewer people struggle with general livelihood difficulties than elsewhere. The proportion of those affected is 24%, the lowest in the EU.

With deteriorating living standards in Europe and rising poverty, an increasing number of families are losing their resilience. As incomes only keep pace with the rise in living costs to a limited extent, some households are forced to draw on their savings. The results show that less than half (44%) of EU citizens would be able to cover a large, unexpected expense. In Hungary, the rate is 54%, the fourth highest after Luxembourg (69%), the Netherlands (58%) and Austria (55%).

Any move that imposes additional costs on the EU is a serious threat to European society. Based on Századvég’s previous analysis, Brussels’ main objectives, i.e. Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU, the arming of the country, and a complete Russian energy embargo, would place such an additional burden on EU citizens that it would push further segments of society into poverty.