Data on homelessness and housing exclusion 2026: Germany

Summary of key data and information

	Summary of key data and information
Official statistical definition of homelessness (Table 1)	According to the Wohnungslosenberichterstattungsgesetz, Germany legally defines homelessness as follows: Homelessness exists when the use of an apartment by one person or a majority of persons from the same household is not secured by a tenancy agreement or a lease agreement or by a right in rem, or an apartment is not available to a person or a majority of persons in the same household for other reasons.
Latest national estimates of homelessness (Table 2, Table 3)	531 600 individuals, representing 0.63% of the total population (2024)
	42% are women, 57% are men
	Point-in-time count, based on the Homeless Reporting Act homelessness report
	ETHOS Light groups included	Included: ETHOS Light 1: Living on the streets, in public spaces ETHOS Light 2: Emergency accommodation (e.g. shelters) ETHOS Light 3: Accommodation for the homeless (e.g. hostels and women’s refuges) ETHOS Light 5: People in non-conventional dwellings (e.g. caravans, cars or tents) ETHOS Light 6: Living temporarily with others in conventional housing (e.g. sofa-surfing) Not included: ETHOS Light 4: People in institutions
	Notes: Each ETHOS Light group includes one or more sub-categories of living situations. ETHOS Light groups are considered as “included” in the data collection approach if at least one of the sub-categories is counted.
Legal framework to collect data on homelessness (Table 4)	The Wohnungslosenberichterstattungsgesetz governs data collection on homelessness in Germany. The legislation mandates the data collection of sheltered homelessness at the federal level as well as the regular assessment of potential improvements to the method to measure people experiencing homelessness to address measurement gaps.
Homelessness Strategy (Table 5)	National Homelessness Strategy: The National Action Plan Against Homelessness, “Together for a home,” approved in April 2024 Regional and/or local homelessness strategies exist
Approaches to collect data on homelessness (Table 6)	Annual reporting of people sleeping in shelters for the homeless: Annual point-in-time count of all people staying in nationally registered shelters (Table 6.1.) Biennial survey to count 1) people sleeping rough and 2) people staying with family/ friends: A survey of clients of a range of service providers that have been identified as likely to provide support to people experiencing homelessness (Table 6.2)

Table 1. Official statistical definition of homelessness

Statistical definition

Homelessness

A person is considered homeless when: According to the law that became effective in April 2020 [Wohnungslosenberichterstattungsgesetz], a person is considered homeless when there is no rental or tenancy agreement for a flat (and no property rights); a flat is not available for other reasons. The following situations are counted in data collection efforts described in Table 2.DEU: staying in accommodation/shelter by care system; staying in homes, asylums, institutions or women’s houses because they lack a flat; living in cheap motels; staying with friends/family; and/or living in the street (rough sleepers).

Table 2. Data on people experiencing homelessness: Headline estimate, by living situation

Presented according to ETHOS Light Typology

Year	Headline estimate of homelessness (Individuals)	% of total population	ETHOS Light 1 People living rough	ETHOS Light 2 People in emergency accommodation	ETHOS Light 3 People in accommodation for the homeless	ETHOS Light 4 People living in institutions	ETHOS Light 5 People living in unconventional dwellings	ETHOS Light 6 People staying with family/friends
2022	262 600	0.31%	38 500(a)	178 100	Included in ETHOS 2	Not included	Included in ETHOS 1	54 800(b)
2024	531 600	0,63%	47 300(c)	439 500(e, f)	Included in ETHOS 2	Not included	Included in ETHOS 1	60 400(d)
Metadata: Type of count: Point-in-time Data are comparable across years: Yes Included in headline estimate: Children: Yes Temporary accommodation for: Asylum seekers: No Refugees: Yes Victims/survivors of domestic violence: No

Note: Data based on the annual reporting of people sleeping in shelters for the homeless and the Biennial survey to count i) people sleeping rough and ii) people staying with family/friends. The sum of all ETHOS categories is larger than the headline estimate due to an estimate of 8 800 (2022) and 15 600 (2024) double entries. (a,c) Sum of adults and children living rough (37 400 adults and 1 100 children in 2022); 45 250 adults and 2 050 children in 2024). (b,d) Sum of adults and children staying with family/friends (49 300 adults and 5 500 children in 2022; 53 800 adults and 6 600 children in 2024). (e) Newer data is available from the 2025 annual report of people sleeping in shelters, which counted 474 700 people in ETHOS Light 2 and 3. The table reports data from 2024 for these categories to ensure alignment with the most recent biennial survey (Destatis, 2025). (f) In 2024, ETHOS Light 2 included 136 900 Ukrainian refugees staying in temporary accommodation.

Source: OECD Questionnaire on Affordable and Social Housing (QuASH); Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), 2022; Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Construction (BMWSB), 2024; Homeless Reporting Act homelessness report.

Table 3. Data on people experiencing homelessness: Headline estimate, by sub-group and living situation

Presented according to ETHOS Light Typology, 2024

	Single adults	Men(b)	Women(b)	Youth (aged under 25)	Older people (aged 65 and over(c))	Families with children (# of households)
Headline estimate of homelessness(a)	184 947	303 842	220 651	194 196	NA	NA
As percentage of total population experiencing homelessness(a)	35%	57%	42%	37%	NA	NA
ETHOS Light 1: People living rough	26 735	33 384	8 599	3 642	2 082	NA
ETHOS Light 2: People in emergency accommodation	139 045	240 920	189 505	176 000	38 235	NA
ETHOS Light 3: People in accommodation for the homeless	Included in ETHOS Light 2	Included in ETHOS Light 2	Included in ETHOS Light 2	Included in ETHOS Light 2	Included in ETHOS Light 2	NA
ETHOS Light 4: People living in institutions	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
ETHOS Light 5: People living in unconventional dwellings	Included in ETHOS Light 1	Included in ETHOS Light 1	Included in ETHOS Light 1	Included in ETHOS Light 1	Included in ETHOS Light 1	NA
ETHOS Light 6: People staying with family/friends	19 167	29 538	22 547	14 554	1 068	NA
Metadata: Type of count: Point-in-time Included in headline estimate: Children: Yes Temporary accommodation for: Asylum seekers: No Refugees: Yes Victims/survivors of domestic violence: No

Note: Sub-groups are not mutually exclusive. (a) The headline estimate by demographic breakdown does not include 15 570 people who are subject to double‑counting across the two data sources used in 2024: the annual reporting of people sleeping in shelters for the homeless (Destatis) and the biennial survey to count people sleeping rough and people staying with family/friends (BMWSB, 2024). Consequently, the percentages reported across all demographic groups should be understood as upper-bound estimates, as a share of the headline estimate of homelessness of 531 600. (b) Gender could be reported male, female, “diverse/other” or unspecified. Combined with double counting, percentages therefore do not sum to 100%. (c) 65 years or older applies to ETHOS Light 1 and ETHOS Light 6; 60 years or older applies to ETHOS Light 2. Given the different age groups, no estimate on the percentage of this age group is provided.

Source: OECD Questionnaire on Affordable and Social Housing (QuASH); Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Construction (BMWSB), 2024; Destatis, 2024.

Table 4. Legal framework to collect data on homelessness

	Legal framework
Law that governs data collection on homelessness	Wohnungslosenberichterstattungsgesetz
Legal obligations	The law mandates data collection (of sheltered homelessness only) at the federal level. The law also mandates that the government must regularly assess how measurement of people experiencing homelessness can be improved and address measurement gaps.

Table 5. Homelessness strategy

	Homelessness strategies in place
National Homelessness Strategy	National Action Plan Against Homelessness
Regional and/or local homelessness strategies exist	Yes

Table 6. Approaches to collect data on homelessness

6.1. Annual reporting of people sleeping in shelters for the homeless
Description The Federal Statistical Office has the mandate to conduct an annual point-in-time count of all people staying in nationally registered shelters on 31 January. Shelter providers report into a centralised system the number of shelter users on that day each year.
Type of count generated Point-in-time	Methods Service‑based method
Lead authority(ies) Federal Statistical Office	Source(s) of information Service providers
Scope National	Depth of data Data disaggregated by (age, sex, nationality, duration of homelessness, etc.)
Frequency Annual
ETHOS Light groups included: ETHOS Light 2: Emergency accommodation (e.g. shelters) ETHOS Light 3: Accommodation for the homeless (e.g. hostels and women’s refuges) Note: Each ETHOS Light group includes one or more sub-categories of living situations. ETHOS Light groups are considered as “included” in the data collection approach if at least one of the sub-categories is counted.
6.2. Biennial survey to count 1) people sleeping rough and 2) people staying with family/friends
Description A research institute appointed by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building conducts a survey of clients of a range of service providers that have been identified as likely to provide support to people experiencing homelessness (e.g. food banks, health clinics, youth centres, job centres, drop in-centres, women’s support services). The approach relies on multiple methods: administrative data are used to contact potential service providers to the homeless population at the municipal level; a stratified geographic count (a variation of a street count) is used to determine the geographic areas that should be covered in the survey; and service‑based methods are used to collect data from researchers conducting interviews/surveys with individuals experiencing homelessness.
Type of count generated Point-in-time	Methods Administrative data A stratified geographic count (a variation of a street count) Service‑based method
Lead authority(ies) Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building A research institute	Source(s) of information The individuals experiencing homelessness are the direct source of data.
Scope National scope: 1) random representative sample of rural and urban municipalities; 2) the likelihood of a municipality’s inclusion in the sample increases with population size	Depth of data Data are disaggregated by sociodemographic characteristics
Frequency Biennial
ETHOS Light groups included: ETHOS Light 1: Living on the streets, in public spaces ETHOS Light 5: People in non-conventional dwellings (e.g. caravans, cars or tents) ETHOS Light 6: Living temporarily with others in conventional housing (e.g. sofa-surfing) Note: Each ETHOS Light group includes one or more sub-categories of living situations. ETHOS Light groups are considered as “included” in the data collection approach if at least one of the sub-categories is counted.

Please refer to the OECD Affordable Housing Database, indicator HC3.1.Population experiencing homelessness, https://www.oecd.org/content/oecd/en/data/datasets/oecd-affordable-housing-database.html.

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