In 2018, 46% of the EU population lived in flats, while a small majority of people lived in houses, according to data released today by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU. In the EU, just over one third (35%) of the population lived in detached houses and almost one fifth (19%) lived in semi-detached or terraced houses. In Cyprus 43.6% lived in detached houses, 28.5% in semi-detached houses and 26.6% in flats. In Greece the same rates are 31.1%, 7.7% and 60.6%.

According to Eurostat, flats were the preferred residence type in nine Member States, notably in Latvia (66%), Spain (65%), Estonia (62%) and Greece (61%). The lowest shares were recorded in Ireland (8%) and the Netherlands (20%).

By contrast, more than two thirds of the population lived in detached houses in Croatia (70%), followed by Slovenia (66%), Hungary and Romania (both 65%), Denmark (53%), Poland and Slovakia (both 50%).

The Netherlands (58%) and Ireland (52%) were the only EU Member States where more than half of the population lived in a semi-detached house in 2018.

In 2018, seven out of every ten (70%) persons in the EU lived in a house or flat they owned. There were more owners than tenants in every EU Member State in 2018, with the highest shares of owners in Romania (96%), Slovakia (91%), Croatia and Lithuania (both 90%) and the lowest shares in Germany (51%) and Austria (55%).