Eurostat: Latvia has EU's highest rate of overcrowding

Feb 24, 2011
Oskars Magone

Latvia has the EU's highest portion of people living in apartment complexes.

BRUSSELS - The latest report from Eurostat, the EU's official statistics agency, has found that Latvia suffers from the highest rate of overcrowding in the EU.

The report found that 58% of Latvians live in an "overcrowded dwelling" - measured by the "relation between the number of persons in a household and the number of rooms in each dwelling". The EU average is 17.8%, while Lithuania and Estonia saw rates of 49% and 41.2%, respectively.

The report also found that the three Baltic States, along with Spain, have the highest proportion of people in the EU living in apartment buildings. Once again, Latvia topped the list at 66%, followed closely by Estonia and Spain at 65% and by Lithuania at 58%. The EU average was 41.7%.

Latvia was also found to have one of the highest rates of people living without an indoor flushing toilet, people without a shower or bath, people living in damp conditions or with leaking rooves, and people living in dwellings where "darkness is a problem".

A full version of the report can be found here.

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