20% of Latvians found housing costs a burden in 2020

Take note – story published 3 years ago

The data of the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) published March 2 show that in 2020, for 20.7% of households covering their housing costs was a heavy burden (22.0 % in 2019).

Households with single seniors over the age of 65 and single-parent families (one adult with children) had the greatest difficulty in meeting the housing costs. Covering the housing costs was a heavy burden for 34.5 % of single elderly people (aged 65 and over) and 30.0 % of single-parent families. Among large families (a couple with three or more children), 19.6 % were those whose housing costs were a heavy burden, which is significantly higher than among couples with one child (10.4 %) and couples with two children (8.1 %).

The largest amount of utility arrears is registered for single-parent families, the lowest - for couples without children and single seniors

Since 2019, the share of households that have had arrears for utility payments at least once in the last 12 months due to lack of money has slightly decreased (from 8.6 % in 2019 to 8.0 % in 2020). In 2020, the highest number of debtors for utility payments was among households with one adult with children (20.3 %), couples with three or more children (15.8 %) and households with one person aged 16-64 (10.9 %). In turn, the lowest number of debtors for utility bills was among couples without children (4.1 %) and among households with one person aged 65 and over (4.6 %).

Housing cost burden in different types of households in 2020

Housing costs

Title: f

See the Official Statistics Portal: MAI030 and calculations by CSB

In 2020, housing costs in Latvia averaged EUR 156 per month

In 2020, housing costs in Latvia averaged EUR 156 per month per household, which is EUR 5 more than a year earlier. The share of expenditures spent on housing maintenance continues to decrease - last year households spent on average 11.8 % of their income on housing maintenance (in 2019 - 12.2 %).

Monthly housing costs and share thereof in household disposable income in 2013–2020

 

Housing costs

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

on average per household, EUR

134

136

142

140

138

150

151

156

on average per household member, EUR

55

57

59

58

59

65

67

68

ratio to household disposable income*, %

17.3

16.1

15.2

14.0

13.5

13.4

12.2

11.8

*Housing costs of the reference period is compared with the disposable income data of households of the previous period.

Single seniors spend one-fifth of their income on housing

On average, one household spends 11.8 % of its income on housing. Single seniors (aged 65 and over) were most affected by the cost of housing - they spent 22.1 % of their income on housing. For households with one adult and children, housing costs accounted for 16.4 % of income, and a person aged 16 to 64 spent 16.2 % of income on housing.

In households with a couple living with children, housing costs accounted for 10.0 - 10.8 % of income, while couples without children spent slightly more on housing costs - 11.1 % of their income.

Average housing costs by household type and size in 2020

 

Household type

Monthly housing costs, EUR

% of housing costs against disposable income

Average number of persons in the household

ALL HOUSEHOLDS

156

11.8

2.3

One person, 16 -64 years old

128

16.2

1.0

One person, 65+

100

22.1

1.0

One adult with children

189

16.4

2.4

Couple without children

148

11.1

2.0

Couple with one child

200

10.1

3.0

Couple with two children

251

10.8

4.0

Couple with three or more children

236

10.0

5.2

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