Home > Statistics > Dwellings and housing conditions > 2014 > Living in overcrowded dwellings became more widespread in Greater Helsinki in 2014

Published: 26 May 2015

Living in overcrowded dwellings became more widespread in Greater Helsinki in 2014

According to Statistics Finland, at the end of 2014, the number of household-dwelling units in Finland was 2.6 million, 1.1 million of which were living alone, that is, 42 per cent of all household-dwelling units. Living in overcrowded dwellings continued to be more widespread in Greater Helsinki. Overcrowding became more common particularly in foreign-language speaking household-dwelling units. In the whole country, there are 227,000 household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions, including 937,000 persons.

Share of household-dwelling units living in overcrowded dwellings in all household-dwelling units , %

Nineteen per cent of two million household-dwelling units were living in overcrowded conditions in 1989 (384,000 household-dwelling units) and the corresponding share was only around nine per cent in 2014 (227,000 household-dwelling units).

In Greater Helsinki, the share of household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions in all household-dwelling units was falling until 2005, after which the share has grown yearly. The number of household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions in Greater Helsinki was at its lowest in 2006, when 46,700 household-dwelling unit were living in overcrowded quarters. In 2014, 10.5 per cent of the 534,000 household-dwelling units in Greater Helsinki were living in overcrowded conditions, which made up 56,000 household-dwelling units.

A household-dwelling unit is formed by all persons living permanently at the same dwelling. A household-dwelling unit is defined as living in an overcrowded dwelling if it consists of more than one person per one room, when the kitchen is not counted as a room.

Overcrowding become more common in foreign-language speaking household-dwelling units

The number of household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions has grown particularly in household-dwelling units consisting of at least one person speaking a foreign language. The number of foreign-language speaking household-dwelling units has doubled between 2005 and 2014. In 2014, eighteen per cent of all household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions were foreign-language speakers. Overcrowded foreign-language speaking household-dwelling units comprised 165,000 persons.

Overcrowding decreased further in household-dwelling units where only national languages are spoken. The decrease was slower than in previous years. Between 2005 and 2006, the number of national-language speaking household-dwelling units went down by 8,300 and in 2013 to 2014 by only 1,600. In 2014, overcrowded household-dwelling units speaking national languages included 772,000 persons.

Seventy-four per cent of all household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions were household-dwelling units with children. A household-dwelling unit with children refers to a household-dwelling unit with at least one underage person having the status of a child.

Household-dwelling units living in overcrowded conditions by language and area in 2005 to 2014

	Whole country			Greater Helsinki (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen)
	Total	Household-dwelling units speaking national languages	Foreign-language speaker	Total	Household-dwelling units speaking national languages	Foreign-language speaker
2005	242,761	222,747	20,014	46,983	37,717	9,266
2006	235,998	214,455	21,543	46,740	36,569	10,171
2007	230,770	207,363	23,407	47,147	35,879	11,268
2008	228,457	202,888	25,569	48,649	36,229	12,420
2009	227,764	200,221	27,543	49,728	36,254	13,474
2010	227,512	197,650	29,862	50,793	36,268	14,525
2011	226,337	193,576	32,761	52,367	36,213	16,154
2012	224,939	189,682	35,257	53,042	35,729	17,313
2013	226,145	188,087	38,058	54,363	35,634	18,729
2014	227,173	186,527	40,646	55,975	35,885	20,090

Source: Dwellings and Housing Conditions, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marja Hermiö 029 551 3211, Topias Pyykkönen 029 551 2628, Arja Tiihonen 029 551 3272, asuminen@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Household-dwelling units by number of person 1960-2014 (26.5.2015)
• Appendix table 2. Floorarea per dwelling by type of building 1970-2014, whole dwellingstock (26.5.2015)

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Updated 26.5.2014