EU people turn to internet for cultural purposes

In 2024, people in the EU widely used the internet for cultural purposes. The most common activity was watching TV or videos online, reported by 79% of internet users. This was followed by reading online news sites, newspapers or news magazines (70%), listening to or downloading music (65%) and playing or downloading games (34%). The highest shares of internet users watching TV or videos online were recorded in the Netherlands and Finland (both 96%) and Cyprus (94%), while the lowest were observed in Romania (44%), Bulgaria (55%) and Slovakia (63%). Reading news online (from sites, newspapers or magazines) was reported by 91% of internet users in Czechia, 90% in Finland and 89% in Cyprus. By contrast, the lowest shares were in Romania (50%), France (56%) and Italy (62%). Source dataset: isoc_ci_ac_i Over one-third of users bought cultural goods and services online In 2024, 36% of internet users in the EU purchased some kind of cultural goods and services online. Subscriptions were popular, particularly those to films, series and sports streaming services (30%) and to music streaming services (21%). One-quarter of internet users (25%) bought tickets to events. When it comes to reading habits, printed books, magazines and newspapers (16%) were more popular than e-books and audio books (7%). Additionally, internet users paid to download software (11%), games (10%) and a minor part purchased physical copies of other audiovisual contents such as music and films or series (6%). Source dataset: isoc_ec_ibgs

EU road freight transport sees 0.6% increase in 2024

In 2024, road freight transport in the EU remained robust, with the total annual volume reaching 1 869 billion tonne-kilometres, slightly up from 1 857 billion in 2023, representing a marginal 0.6% year-on-year increase. Poland continued to lead all EU countries in road freight transport in 2024, registering a total of 368 billion tonne-kilometres, nearly 20% of the EU total. It was followed by Germany, with 281 billion (15%); Spain, with 272 billion (15%); France, with 174 billion (9%); and Italy, with 153 billion (8%). These 5 countries accounted for 67% of the total EU road freight transport. Among smaller economies, notable volumes were also recorded in Czechia (70 billion), Romania (67 billion), Lithuania (66 billion) and the Netherlands (63 billion). This information comes from data on road freight transport published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on road freight transport statistics. Source dataset: road_go_ta_tott In terms of groups of products transported in 2024, the top 10 remained the same as in 2023. This stability reflects consistent transport demand across essential supply chains such as food, agriculture, construction materials, and chemicals. Food products, beverages and tobacco continued to dominate, with 312 billion tonne-kilometres in 2024, followed by grouped goods (different goods transported together), with 237 billion tonne-kilometres. Agriculture, forestry and fishing products came in third place, with 208 billion tonne-kilometres, followed by other non-metallic mineral products (137 billion), metal ores and other mining/quarrying products (132 billion), and chemicals (116 billion). Source dataset: road_go_ta_tg

Nearly 25% of EU households had at least 1 child in 2024

In 2024, in the EU, there were nearly 202 million private households. Slightly less than a quarter of those (23.6%) included children, whereas 76.4% did not. The highest shares of households with children were in Slovakia (35.6%), Ireland (31.0%) and Cyprus (28.6%). By contrast, the lowest shares were registered in Finland (18.0%), Lithuania (19.6%) and Germany (20.1%). Source dataset: lfs_hhnhtych Households with children: 1 child is the most common In 2024, almost half (49.8%) of households with children in the EU had 1 child, 37.6% had 2 children, and 12.6% had 3 or more children. Households with 1 child were predominant in all EU countries, except in the Netherlands, where the share of households with 2 children was higher. Households with 3 children or more were the least common across all EU countries. Their percentage among all households with children ranged from 20.6% in Ireland, 18.1% in Sweden and 17.4% in Finland, to 6.2% in Portugal, 6.4% in Bulgaria and 7.6% in Italy. Source dataset: lfst_hhnhtych

Key data on the Dublin system in 2024

In 2024, EU countries sent 151 830 outgoing requests to transfer the responsibility to examine asylum applications to other EU countries, and implemented 16 455 outgoing transfers. Compared with the previous year, this represents a decrease of approximately 19% in requests (186 910 in 2023) and 3% in transfers (16 869 in 2023). Dublin statistics provide information on the functioning of the Dublin system, which establishes which EU country is responsible for examining an asylum application. Source datasets: migr_dubro and migr_dubto The largest numbers of outgoing requests using the Dublin procedure were sent by Germany (74 581), France (30 986) and Belgium (12 501), representing 78% of all outgoing requests in 2024. The lowest numbers recorded were sent by Latvia (32), Spain (52) and Slovakia (66). The largest numbers of outgoing transfers were implemented by Germany (5 827), followed by France (2 624) and the Netherlands (2 245). By contrast, Spain (2), Portugal (3) and Ireland (6) reported the lowest numbers of outgoing transfers. Source datasets: migr_dubri and migr_dubti In 2024, 167 561 incoming requests and 16 828 incoming transfers from other EU countries were recorded. Italy received the largest number of incoming requests (42 807), ahead of Croatia (23 721) and Greece (17 163), which in total represented 50% of all incoming requests in 2024. Ireland recorded the fewest incoming requests (92), followed by Estonia (129) and Slovakia (232). The largest numbers of incoming transfers were implemented by Germany (4 591), France (2 201) and Croatia (1 698). Meanwhile, Estonia (6), Cyprus (9) and Ireland (14) reported the lowest numbers.

House prices and rents continue to rise in early 2025

In the first quarter of 2025, house prices in the EU rose by 5.7%, while rents increased by 3.2% compared with the same quarter of 2024. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, house prices increased by 1.4% and rents by 0.9%. This information comes from data on house prices and rents published by Eurostat today. This article presents the main findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on housing price statistics. Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2025, house prices in the EU increased by 57.9% and rents by 27.8%. While rents have increased steadily, house prices have followed a more variable pattern, showing a staggering increase between the first quarter of 2015 and the third quarter of 2022, followed by a small drop and stabilization, before increasing again since 2024. Source datasets: prc_hpi_q and prc_hicp_midx When comparing the first quarter of 2025 with 2010, house prices increased more than rents in 21 of the 26 EU countries for which data are available. Over the same period, house prices more than tripled in Hungary (+260%) and Estonia (+238%) and doubled or more than doubled in 9 EU countries: Lithuania (+194%), Latvia (+154%), Czechia (+147%), Portugal (+130%), Bulgaria (+125%), Austria (+113%), Luxembourg and Poland (both +102%) and Slovakia (+100%). Italy was the only country where house prices decreased (-4%). During the same period, rents increased in 26 EU countries, with the highest rises registered in Estonia (+220%), Lithuania (+184%), Hungary (+124%) and Ireland (+115%). Greece was the only country where rent prices decreased (-11%). Source datasets: prc_hpi_a, prc_hpi_q, prc_hicp_aind, prc_hicp_midx