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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 , %

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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Updated 26.5.2014

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Dwellings and housing conditions [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-6761. 2014. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 29.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/asas/2014/asas_2014_2015-05-26_tie_001_en.html