Finding affordable and suitable housing continues to become increasingly difficult for many people in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), which released end results from the EU-SILC survey on income and living conditions on Monday, 11.7% of the German population lived in overcrowded apartments in 2025. This figure reflects a continuous increase in the overcrowding rate over the past five years, rising from 10.2% in 2020.
Specific demographic groups are particularly affected. Individuals with foreign citizenship are especially vulnerable: in the foreign population aged 18 and over, the rate of living in overcrowded housing was 30.8% in 2025, nearly five times higher than the 6.7% reported among German citizens of the same age. People at risk of poverty also represent a highly affected group, with a rate of 27.4%.
Family structure also reveals significant disparities. Those living in households with children were above the average rate of overcrowding at 17.6%. The most affected subgroups among these families were two adults with three or more children (32.1%) and single parents with their children (29.6%). Conversely, those living in households without children had a rate below the average of 7.2%. Among those without children, a single adult represented the least affected group at 3.3%. However, the rate for single-person households was considerably higher at 12.6%. (The EU-SILC definition considers a single-person household overcrowded if it lacks at least two rooms, specifically separated living and sleeping areas.)
Age also highlights that housing shortages frequently impact youth. For minors, the percentage living in apartments with insufficient rooms stood at 19.0% in 2025. The elderly population aged 65 and over was least affected, with a rate of only 3.1%.
Furthermore, the data shows that housing shortages are most pronounced in urban centers. The proportion of people living in overcrowded housing was significantly higher in larger cities (16.9%) compared to suburbs and smaller towns (9.6%), and was three times higher in larger cities than in rural areas (5.5%).
In an international context, the EU-SILC data shows that the average overcrowding rate across the EU was 16.8% in 2025, higher than Germany’s rate of 11.7%. The countries with the highest proportions of overcrowded residences were Romania (40.4%) and Latvia (38.9%), while Cyprus (2.2%) and the Netherlands (4.1%) recorded the lowest rates.