Eurostat experts have analysed housing conditions in the EU Member States in 2023.
It turned out that 73.3% of the Cypriot population lived in houses, while 25.9% lived in flats. A small percentage, around 0.8% of the total population, lived in other types of dwellings.
Looking at the preferences of urban dwellers, 64.7% of them lived in houses, 34.3% in flats and 1% in other types of property last year. Outside the city, the situation was as follows: 95.5% of the rural population lived in houses and only 4.5% in apartments.
The EU's statistical office noted that Cyprus was among the countries with the highest percentage of people living in their own homes. In particular, the island state ranks 6th on this indicator. The EU leader is Ireland, where 89.7 per cent of the population live in their own home as their main residence. It is followed by the Netherlands (79.4%), Belgium (76.9%), Croatia (76.6%t) and Hungary (74.3%).
In the EU as a whole, 51.7% of the population live in houses, 47.7% in flats and 0.6% in other types of property.
It should be recalled that Eurostat previously reported that Cyprus was the EU country with the lowest number of people living in overcrowded conditions.
Only 2.5% of the island's population do not have enough living space for the size of the family and are therefore uncomfortable. Cyprus is followed by Ireland (3.2%), Malta (4.2%) and the Netherlands (4.8%). Interestingly, many islanders live in under-occupied dwellings.
An under-occupied dwelling is a dwelling that is considered too large for the needs of the occupants in terms of extra rooms, especially bedrooms.
It is worth noting that 46.9% of people living in overcrowded dwellings in the EU are over 65 years old. Ireland (92.8%), Cyprus (87.4%) and Malta (86.7%) have the highest proportion of elderly people in such dwellings. And the least in Romania (12%), Latvia (13.3%), Croatia (16.9%) and Poland (17.8%).
The proportion of people living in overcrowded conditions was highest in Romania (45.1%), followed by Latvia (42.5%), Bulgaria (39.5%), Poland (36.9%) and Croatia (36.2%).
In the EU as a whole, at least 17.5% of the population live in overcrowded dwellings with an unsatisfactory ratio of floor area to occupants.