Around 220,000 people in single-person and couple households with children were homeless in Germany as of January 31, 2024, according to the federal government’s response to a Left party group inquiry in the Bundestag, reported by the Welt.
Statistics from the Federal Statistical Office show that the majority of people accommodated by the state and social services are from foreign national families. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of Germans from this group increased from around 10,000 to approximately 12,300.
The number of foreign nationals from families in Germany, who likely never had the opportunity to live in their own property or with a personal lease, has increased significantly. This group, mainly driven by the war in Ukraine, as well as flight and migration from Syria and Afghanistan, rose from around 70,000 in 2022 to over 200,000 in 2024.
In total, as of January 31, 2024, there were 439,465 people in Germany without a home. 61,545 (14%) of them are German, and 377,920 (86%) are foreign nationals. The largest single national group among the accommodated homeless is Ukrainian (31.1%), followed by Syrians (14.7%), Afghans (10.3%), EU citizens (4.7%), and West Balkan states (2.3%).
The Left party group also asked the federal government how many families in Germany live in rented apartments: 3.3 million families with children under 18, plus 1.8 million single-parent households, are renting, according to the data. Around 400,000 families receive housing allowance as a state subsidy, with an average of 426 euros per family. The highest number of these families is found in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Baden-Württemberg.
Gökay Akbulut, the family policy spokesperson for the Left party group, called the housing situation of families a “social catastrophe”: “The housing crisis is escalating further. Rising costs for energy and food are exacerbating the already tight situation of many families and driving them to their limits. The tight housing market even leads to more and more families becoming homeless.