OeNB Euro Survey in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

Summary

This report shares survey results from 2025 on how people in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) view and use the euro. The OeNB Euro Survey is conducted only in countries that do not have the euro as their official currency. It examines people’s trust in institutions, expectations and financial decisions and how these are connected to using the euro. The report also covers financial literacy and crypto asset ownership. It ends by giving details on how the 2025 survey was conducted.

Highlights

CESEE: euro cash holdings down, financial literacy up 
Euro cash holdings in CESEE declined, likely as households needed to use their cash because of higher cost of living and falling real wages. Still, euroisation remains persistent, with a gradual long-term downward trend. Knowledge about inflation and exchange rates has increased in CESEE, though not evenly.

Crypto owners in CESEE remain few 
The share of people who own crypto assets remains small at 1% to 3% of the population. Crypto asset owners are predominantly young men with tertiary education and high income. Crypto asset ownership does not appear to depend on trust or distrust in governments, national central banks or financial stability.

About the OeNB Euro Survey 
The 2025 wave of the OeNB Euro Survey covered nine countries in CESEE and generated new data on: the state of household euroisation, i.e. the use of the euro by people living outside the euro area, financial literacy, crypto asset ownership and other matters related to personal finance.