Rents in Macedonia Rose 9.2% in a Year - Three Times Faster Than the EU Average

Rents in Macedonia rose by 9.2% between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. The European Union average over the same period was 3%. Three times faster. And the flat you're renting didn't get three times better.

The figures come from Eurostat and place Macedonia among the European markets with the sharpest rise in rental costs. Macedonia is far from the shocking numbers in Romania (43.5%) and Croatia (40.1%), but clearly above Greece (7.5%), Czechia (6.2%) and Albania (6%). In the neighbourhood, only rents in Serbia (12.5%) and Bulgaria (9.9%) are rising faster. The record-holder in the wider comparison, which includes candidate countries, is Turkey at 49.6%.

Romania's 40% and Macedonia's 9.2% don't mean the same thing

The European figures need careful reading. In Croatia, the institution that supplies the data explains the sudden jump with Zagreb's decision to raise rents in the social housing category. In Romania, the government points to increases in administratively set rents for state and municipal flats. In other words, part of their jump is public-sector statistics - not every tenant getting a new rent 40% higher.

Macedonia's 9.2% is a smaller number, but it lands on a smaller budget. A flat that rented for 300 euros last year costs 327.60 euros after a rise like this. That's 27.60 euros more every month, or over 330 euros a year - for a flat that hasn't gained a single square metre.

The vicious circle of the Skopje square metre

Rents don't rise in isolation. According to National Bank data, in the second quarter of 2026 flat prices in Skopje were 13.3% higher than in the second quarter last year, and in the first quarter annual growth was around 16.7%. When buying keeps getting more expensive, some people put it off and stay renters longer. That pushes up demand for rentals. And owners who bought at higher prices ask for higher rents to get their money back.

Then there's the paradox every Skopje resident can see out of the window: there's construction everywhere, yet a flat to live in isn't getting more affordable. Some new flats are bought as savings or investments, some stand empty, some are used occasionally or let out short-term. The number of flats built and the number actually offered for long-term rent are two different things.

Macedonia has no complete, easily comparable public data on how many newly built flats are sitting empty. Until someone starts counting them, the only one measuring rents will be the tenant - at the end of every month.