Eurostat
EU statistics agency; 2025 STR data distorted by TripAdvisor exit from data panel.
Last refreshed: 17 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why does Eurostat's 11.4% STR growth figure mislead policymakers?
Timeline for Eurostat
Published 2025 EU short-stay guest-nights figure of 951.6 million without restating the 2024 baseline after TripAdvisor's exit from the data panel
Nomads & Communities: Eurostat's 2025 STR figure is not like-for-like- Why is Eurostat's 2025 short-term rental figure not comparable to 2024?
- TripAdvisor left Eurostat's data panel in November 2024 and the agency has not restated the 2024 baseline, making the reported 11.4% growth figure misleading.Source: Eurostat/Lowdown analysis
- What does Eurostat's short-term rental data cover?
- Eurostat collects guest-night data from Major STR platforms across all 27 EU member states, used to underpin EU Regulation 2024/1028 on STR registration.
- How does Eurostat data affect the EU short-term rental law?
- EU Regulation 2024/1028's enforcement framework relies on Eurostat-linked STR data. A discontinuous baseline could distort national-level enforcement comparisons from 20 May 2026.Source: EU Regulation 2024/1028
Background
Eurostat published its 2025 short-term rental guest-nights figure of 951.6 million, reporting an apparent 11.4% increase on 2024. Policymakers and platform critics cited the number as evidence of continued growth in Europe's STR sector. However, Eurostat acknowledged that TripAdvisor withdrew from its data panel in November 2024, and the agency has not restated the 2024 baseline to account for the change. The true like-for-like growth rate across the remaining three platforms is higher than the headline number implies.
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union, established in 1953 and headquartered in Luxembourg. It collects and publishes harmonised statistical data from all 27 EU member states across economic, social and environmental domains. Its data on short-term accommodation underpins EU Regulation 2024/1028, the bloc's new STR registration and data-sharing framework that goes live on 20 May 2026.
The data-quality problem exposed by the TripAdvisor exit is not merely technical. EU Regulation 2024/1028 depends on Eurostat-linked STR data to calibrate national-level enforcement. If the baseline is discontinuous, early enforcement actions, including Spain's €64 million Airbnb fine, risk being compared against an inaccurate benchmark. The issue will likely require a methodology review before the regulation's first annual report in 2027.