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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

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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