Almost half of the population in Romania (45.8%) lived in overcrowded households in 2019, this being the highest share in the European Union (EU), according to Eurostat. By comparison, the EU average was 17.2%.

The share was also high in Latvia (42.2%), Bulgaria (41.1%), Croatia (38.5%), and Poland (37.6%). 

Compared to the previous year, the share of the population living in overcrowded dwellings fell slightly in all of these countries, including Romania, the same report said. The most substantial fall was recorded in Poland (-1.6 pp).

According to Eurostat, a person is considered as living in an overcrowded household if the household does not have at its disposal a minimum number of rooms equal to: one room for the household; one room per couple in the household; one room for each single person aged 18 or more; one room per pair of single people of the same gender between 12 and 17 years of age; one room for each single person between 12 and 17 years of age and not included in the previous category; one room per pair of children under 12 years of age.

At the opposite end, the lowest overcrowding rates were recorded in Cyprus (2.2%), Ireland (3.2%), Malta (3.7%), and the Netherlands (4.8%).

“Overcrowded households can feel even smaller with kids playing in the same room as parents trying to telework during the coronavirus lockdown. Moreover, overcrowded environments can present a higher risk of spreading the virus,” Eurostat said.

On the other hand, almost one in three persons (32.7%) in the EU lived in under-occupied dwellings in 2019, meaning they had excess bedrooms.

Romania had the lowest share of under-occupied dwellings in 2019, of only 7.7%, followed by Latvia (9.6%), Greece (10.7%), Bulgaria (11.5%), Croatia (12.0%), Slovakia (14.0%), and Italy (14.2%).  Meanwhile, almost three-quarters of the population were living in under-occupied dwellings in Malta (72.6%), Cyprus (70.5%), and Ireland (69.6%).

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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