Romania ranks second in the ranking of families from the European Union who spend more than 40% of their income on home utilities (electricity, gas, heating, water and sanitation).
Almost 16% of the families from Romania exceed the critical threshold mentioned, set by Eurostat as the benchmark for the housing costs „considered an excessive burden„. On average, 11% of the households from the EU spend beyond the critical threshold.
Greeks register the highest expenses, as nearly 41% of them exceed the critical threshold of 40% of the income and 15.6% of the Germans and 15.1 % of the Danes also exceed the critical share of income, according to a statement released Thursday by Eurostat.
Citizens of Malta are in the best situation (only 1.1% of them have expenses over this threshold), followed by Cyprus (3.9%), Ireland (4.6) and Finland (4.9%), according to the latest Eurostat data released in November 2015.
„A decent house at an affordable price in a safe neighbourhood is a necessity and a fundamental right. Satisfying this need could reduce poverty and social exclusion, but is still a significant problem in a number of European countries,” says a Eurostat report.
The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) announced that as of 1 April, the price of natural gas will increase by 5-6%.
