In 2023, across the EU, approximately 4.9% of people aged 16 or over reported experiencing housing difficulties in their lifetime (situation when a person had no place of their own and was forced to stay in a temporary accommodation), according to the data.
This percentage was significantly higher for people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (8.5%). On the other hand, only 3.9% of people not at risk of poverty or social exclusion reported facing housing difficulties in their lifetime.
EU countries with the highest rates of housing difficulties among those at risk of poverty or social exclusion were Denmark (18.4%), Finland (17.5%) and France (17.1%). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Poland (1.9%), Italy (2.0%) and Hungary (2.1%).
Latvia ranked somewhere in the middle, though slightly better than the EU average with a rate of 4.5%.
At EU level, people aged 16 to 29 and 30 to 54 reported the highest rates of renting difficulties, 14.8% and 14.7%, respectively, while this rate decreased to 12.8% for those aged 55 to 64 and 6.7% for people aged 65 years or over.
Data show that people at risk of poverty or social exclusion at all ages suffer the most from renting difficulties. However, this pattern decreases with age.
When looking at people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, renting difficulties were higher at 27.7% for people aged 30-54 years, followed by 24.0% for people aged 55 to 64 and 22.1% for those 16 to 29 years. Among those aged 65 years or older, 12.9% of those at risk of poverty or social exclusion reported having renting difficulties, the lowest share.