Countries by Overcrowded Housing

Complete ranking of 35 countries • Percentage of households • Updated 2026

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Latvia leads all 35 countries in Overcrowded Housing with a value of 32.83% of households, while New Zealand ranks last at 0.70% of households. This represents a 47-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What Overcrowded Housing Measures

Share of households living in overcrowded housing, from OECD How's Life / Well-Being.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining Overcrowded Housing across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 0.70% of households (New Zealand) to 32.83% of households (Latvia) — a 47-fold difference across 35 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries dominate this ranking, holding 17 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 4.26% of households to 16.92% of households. The overall spread from 0.70% of households to 32.83% of households reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Latvia and Colombia are separated by only 2%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.

Continental Leaders

Europe

Latvia

32.83% of households

North America

Colombia

32.22% of households

South America

Chile

9.25% of households

Asia

South Korea

3.98% of households

Oceania

New Zealand

0.70% of households

Highest Overcrowded Housing

The 5 strongest Overcrowded Housing reads.

Latvia32.83% of households Colombia32.22% of households Mexico29.97% of households Poland28.4% of households Turkey23.84% of households

Lowest Overcrowded Housing

The 5 lowest Overcrowded Housing reads.

New Zealand0.70% of households United Kingdom0.77% of households Japan1.57% of households Ireland2.75% of households Netherlands3.47% of households

Data Note

Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD How's Life / Well-Being, covering 35 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

1stLatvia32.83% of households

2ndColombia32.22% of households

3rdMexico29.97% of households

4thPoland28.4% of households

5thTurkey23.84% of households

6thSlovakia22.65% of households

7thGreece17.95% of households

8thLithuania17.27% of households

9thItaly16.92% of households

10thSweden15.72% of households

Country Ladder

1stLatviaEurope32.83% of households 2ndColombiaNorth America32.22% of households 3rdMexicoNorth America29.97% of households 4thPolandEurope28.4% of households 5thTurkeyEurope23.84% of households 6thSlovakiaEurope22.65% of households 7thGreeceEurope17.95% of households 8thLithuaniaEurope17.27% of households 9thItalyEurope16.92% of households 10thSwedenEurope15.72% of households 11thEstoniaEurope12.6% of households 12thAustriaEurope11.67% of households 13thCzechiaEurope10.85% of households 14thFinlandEurope10.27% of households 15thChileSouth America9.3% of households 16thIcelandEurope9.2% of households 17thGermanyEurope9.0% of households 18thHungaryEurope8.9% of households 19thSloveniaEurope8.5% of households 20thDenmarkEurope8.4% of households 21stCosta RicaNorth America8.0% of households 22ndFranceEurope7.4% of households 23rdNorwayEurope7.0% of households 24thSwitzerlandEurope5.0% of households 25thLuxembourgEurope4.8% of households 26thUnited StatesNorth America4.4% of households 27thPortugalEurope4.3% of households 28thBelgiumEurope4.0% of households 29thSouth KoreaAsia4.0% of households 30thSpainEurope3.8% of households 31stNetherlandsEurope3.5% of households 32ndIrelandEurope2.8% of households 33rdJapanAsia1.6% of households 34thUnited KingdomEurope0.77% of households 35thNew ZealandOceania0.70% of households

Overcrowded Housing ranking for 35 countries
				Percentile
1st	Latvia	32.83% of households	Europe	100%
2nd	Colombia	32.22% of households	North America	97%
3rd	Mexico	29.97% of households	North America	94%
4th	Poland	28.4% of households	Europe	91%
5th	Turkey	23.84% of households	Europe	89%
6th	Slovakia	22.65% of households	Europe	86%
7th	Greece	17.95% of households	Europe	83%
8th	Lithuania	17.27% of households	Europe	80%
9th	Italy	16.92% of households	Europe	77%
10th	Sweden	15.72% of households	Europe	74%
11th	Estonia	12.6% of households	Europe	71%
12th	Austria	11.67% of households	Europe	69%
13th	Czechia	10.85% of households	Europe	66%
14th	Finland	10.27% of households	Europe	63%
15th	Chile	9.3% of households	South America	60%
16th	Iceland	9.2% of households	Europe	57%
17th	Germany	9.0% of households	Europe	54%
18th	Hungary	8.9% of households	Europe	51%
19th	Slovenia	8.5% of households	Europe	49%
20th	Denmark	8.4% of households	Europe	46%
21st	Costa Rica	8.0% of households	North America	43%
22nd	France	7.4% of households	Europe	40%
23rd	Norway	7.0% of households	Europe	37%
24th	Switzerland	5.0% of households	Europe	34%
25th	Luxembourg	4.8% of households	Europe	31%
26th	United States	4.4% of households	North America	29%
27th	Portugal	4.3% of households	Europe	26%
28th	Belgium	4.0% of households	Europe	23%
29th	South Korea	4.0% of households	Asia	20%
30th	Spain	3.8% of households	Europe	17%
31st	Netherlands	3.5% of households	Europe	14%
32nd	Ireland	2.8% of households	Europe	11%
33rd	Japan	1.6% of households	Asia	9%
34th	United Kingdom	0.77% of households	Europe	6%
35th	New Zealand	0.70% of households	Oceania	3%

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