Smaller Markets Lead Platform Booking Growth as EU Nights Hit 952 Million

Malta, Finland and Norway posted the fastest first-half 2026 growth in platform-booked short stays, while EU27 nights in 2025 stood 86% above 2019.

The source and scope

The figures come from Eurostat experimental statistics on short-stay accommodation offered via online platforms (Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group, Tripadvisor). They cover platform bookings only and not all short-term rentals. Direct bookings and other channels are outside the data.

EU27 nights reach a new high

Platform nights spent in the EU27 reached 952 million in 2025. That is 11.4% more than the 854 million recorded in 2024. It is also 86% above the 512 million nights of 2019.

The series shows a clear break in 2020, when nights fell to 272 million from 512 million the year before. That is a drop of about 47%. Nights recovered to 364 million in 2021 and passed the 2019 level in 2022, at 597 million.

Growth continued after that. Nights rose to 719 million in 2023 and 854 million in 2024. The 2018 figure was 442 million, so 2025 volume is more than double the level of seven years earlier.

Fastest growth in smaller markets

Eurostat’s H1 2026 data shows the quickest growth outside the largest markets. The ranking covers only markets with at least 2 million nights in H1 2025.

Malta leads with +26.7%. Finland follows at +14.3%. Norway and Czechia are both at +13.0%. Poland recorded +10.1%.

Romania and Italy are each at +10.0%. Greece completes the list at +9.4%.

Malta’s rate is almost double that of Finland, the next market, and nearly three times that of Poland. The other seven markets sit within a range of about five percentage points, from 9.4% to 14.3%.

Large Mediterranean markets grow more slowly

Among the larger established destinations, growth in H1 2026 was uneven. Italy grew by 10.0%, which places it in the top group. France recorded +6.9%. Spain recorded +3.7%.

Spain’s rate is well below Italy’s, at 6.3 percentage points lower. It is also less than half the rate of France. Italy is the only one of the three that appears in the fastest-growing list.

[DATA: absolute nights for H1 2025 and H1 2026 by market, needed to show the volume behind each percentage]

What the numbers do and do not show

The H1 2026 figures are growth rates. They do not show how many nights each market handles in total. A market with a smaller base can post a high percentage on a modest number of added nights.

The data also does not explain the causes of the differences between markets. [DATA: Eurostat breakdown by accommodation type, region or host type, needed to explain where growth is concentrated]

The EU27 total gives a firmer baseline. Volume has grown every year since 2020, and the 2025 gain of 11.4% was achieved on an already high 2024 base of 854 million nights.

What it means for operators

Platform demand is growing fastest outside the largest markets, so operators and investors should compare their own booking trends with the national rates above, particularly in markets where growth is running at 10% or more.

Source: Eurostat, experimental statistics on short-stay accommodation offered via online platforms (Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group, Tripadvisor); platform bookings only.

The data behind this story

Smaller markets are growing fastest in 2026

Item	Value	Chart
Malta	+26.7%	████████████
Finland	+14.3%	██████░░░░░░
Norway	+13.0%	██████░░░░░░
Czechia	+13.0%	██████░░░░░░
Poland	+10.1%	█████░░░░░░░
Romania	+10.0%	█████░░░░░░░
Italy	+10.0%	████░░░░░░░░
Greece	+9.4%	████░░░░░░░░

Platform nights are up 86% on 2019

Item	Value	Chart
2018	442M	██████░░░░░░
2019	512M	██████░░░░░░
2020	272M	███░░░░░░░░░
2021	364M	█████░░░░░░░
2022	597M	████████░░░░
2023	719M	█████████░░░
2024	854M	███████████░
2025	952M	████████████

Source: Eurostat experimental statistics on short-stay accommodation offered via online platforms (datasets tour_ce_). The data covers bookings through Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor only, and is not a census of all short-term rentals.*

Cover photo: Polina on Pexels.