Europe Finally Chills: What the Working Abroad Index 2025 Says About the New Nomad Reality
Living costs slow down, coworking gets cheaper, and mid-price cities quietly become the smartest bases for long-stay nomads.
Europe hit pause — and honestly, we needed it
After two years of wild price swings, the 2025 bunq Working Abroad Index lands with the most unexpected headline of all:
Europe has calmed down.
Living costs across the continent rose only 3.6%, the slowest increase since pre-pandemic days.
For digital nomads used to budgeting like hedge-fund analysts, this is the first breath of fresh air in a long time.
The new average?
€1,644/month — and a far more predictable cost structure than 2023–24.
The expensive capitals aren’t getting cheaper — they’re getting reasonable
London is still London (€3,216/month), but for the first time in years it recorded a small dip: –0.3%, mainly thanks to a dramatic drop in utility prices (–13.9%).
Berlin followed the same moderation path (–0.6%).
Amsterdam and Dublin remain pricey but stable.
For nomads, this matters. Not because these cities are suddenly affordable — they’re not — but because the era of chaotic increases seems to be over.
The East isn’t “cheap” anymore — just different
Bucharest, Sofia and Budapest continue to offer the lowest living costs in Europe.
But the Index makes one thing clear:
Their golden-bargain era is fading.
Sofia jumps +12.5%
Budapest jumps +9%
Zagreb +9.5%
Demand, visibility and international inflows are closing the East–West gap faster than anyone predicted.
The new rule is not “go East to save money,” but “go East if the vibe fits your lifestyle.”
The mid-price cities are the winners of 2025
This is the most interesting shift: the rise of balanced, coherent, mid-size capitals.
Athens (€1,095), Vilnius (€1,151), Zagreb (€1,213), Tallinn (€1,268), Riga (€1,044):
cities that don’t pretend to be the next Silicon Valley — but quietly deliver:
✅ stable costs
✅ strong connectivity
✅ good weather or strong culture
✅ a calmer, more sustainable lifestyle
For long-stay nomads, this is the new sweet spot.
Not the cheapest, not the trendiest — just the most livable.
Coworking: the unexpected twist
Coworking prices are down 11% on average, making 2025 the first year in a long time where flexibility actually costs less.
Budapest: €118
Madrid: €152
London: €167
Zagreb: €173
It’s a sign of a maturing market: more operators, more competition, and a nomad population that expects both variety and affordability.
Coworking is no longer a luxury — it’s becoming infrastructure.
A more balanced continent = smarter choices for nomads
The 2025 Index paints a Europe with fewer extremes:
Western capitals cooling
Eastern capitals rising
mid-price hubs gaining relevance
coworking becoming more accessible
For the global mobile workforce, this means something precious:
predictability.
You can finally plan.
You can finally compare cities without fearing a sudden +20% spike next quarter.
And you can finally choose a base not because it’s the “cheapest” — but because it fits your life.
Europe hasn’t just stabilised.
It has matured.
And in a nomad world that grows more diverse every year, maturity is the real competitive advantage.