More and more Europeans are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet due to rising prices, according to the data in the report published today by the European Statistics Agency.

The share of citizens who have difficulty covering basic expenses increased in the second quarter compared to the previous three months in eight of the 10 EU countries included in the survey, Eurostat announced. It decreased only in Slovenia and Finland.

Data to Eurostat were submitted by Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

According to the data available to Eurostat, it was most difficult in the second quarter in Bulgaria, where as many as 39,8 percent of respondents had a very difficult or difficult time making ends meet.

Slovakia, Italy and France are also included in the group of countries with more than 20 percent of respondents struggling to cover basic expenses.

Their share is the smallest in Finland, where it amounts to 11 percent. The survey also showed that as many as 40,5 percent of Finns cover basic expenses very easily or easily. Austria and France follow, where slightly less than a quarter of respondents had no problems with financing basic needs.

Their share is the smallest in Bulgaria, where only slightly more than three percent of respondents said that they very easily or easily cover basic expenses.

The share of residents in a favorable financial position was lower in nine countries in the second quarter than at the beginning of the year, and in Italy it was almost unchanged.

The majority of respondents stated that their incomes were unchanged or even increased during the observed period, notes Eurostat.