In 2019, 25% of non-EU citizens living in the EU-27 faced a significant burden on their disposable income from housing costs, compared with 19% for citizens from other EU countries and 9% for national citizens.
The housing cost overburden rate is defined as the percentage of the population living in households where total housing costs represent more than 40% of disposable income (both 'net' of housing allowances).
Between the 2010 and 2019, the housing cost overburden rate in the EU-27 observed for non-EU citizens rose from 25% in 2010 to a peak of 31% in 2014 before falling back to 25% in 2019. For citizens of other EU Member States, the rate was around 23% during the period 2010-2012, before declining to a level of 17% in 2018; in 2019 the rate increased to 19%.
By contrast, the housing cost overburden rate for national citizens living in the EU-27 fluctuated around 10% during the period 2010-2018, with a low of 9% in 2010 and a high of 11% in 2013 and 2014. In 2019, the rate fell back to 9%.
In 2019, the highest housing cost overburden rate for non-EU citizens was recorded in Greece (70%), ahead of Bulgaria (40%), Spain (34%) and Poland (30%).
By contrast, the lowest rates, all below 10%, were observed in Cyprus (8%), Latvia (8%; 2018 data) and Estonia (7%).
For citizens of other EU Member States, the highest housing cost overburden rate was also recorded in Greece (57%), followed by Malta (35%) and Spain (33%).
On the other end of the scale, less than 10% of citizens of other EU Member States reported high burden of housing cost in Cyprus and Czechia (both 7%), Finland (6%) and Estonia (2%).
For national citizens, the housing cost overburden rate ranged in 2019 from 1% in Cyprus and Malta up to 34% in Greece.
Source data: ilc_lvho25
At the EU27 level, the difference between the housing cost overburden rates for non-EU citizens and national citizens was 15.9 percentage points, higher than the difference between the housing cost overburden rates for other EU citizens and national citizens (10.0 percentage points).
The largest differences between housing cost overburden rates for non-EU citizens and national citizens were recorded in Greece (35.9 percentage points), Spain (27.6 percentage points), Bulgaria (27.4 percentage points) and Poland (23.5 percentage points). By contrast, the two rates differed by less than 2 percentage points in Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Latvia (2018 data).
The difference between overburden rates for citizens of other EU Member States and those for national citizens was generally smaller. The largest gap among the Member States for which data are available was recorded in Malta (33.5 percentage points), followed by Spain (26.4 percentage points) and Greece (22.3 percentage points). By contrast, the smallest gaps, less than 2 percentage points, were observed in Finland and Czechia.
In Germany and Estonia, less citizens of other EU Member States than national citizens, faced an overburden from their housing costs.
For more information, you can read the Statistics Explained article Migrant integration statistics – housing.
Would you like to know more about migrant integration?
Have a look at the recently published statistical book Migrant integration statistics (2020 edition) or an online publication on migrant integration statistics.
Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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