Statistics - Microcensus: Almost two million apartments are vacant
In spite of the high demand for living space, there are many vacant apartments in Germany. According to the Microcensus, there were approximately 1.9 million vacant apartments as of May 15, 2022, for various reasons. This corresponds to a vacancy rate of 4.3 percent, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Over half of the real estate (55 percent) had not been inhabited for more than a year.
A little over a third of the vacant apartments (38 percent) were available for occupancy within the next three months. In the city-states of Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin, the respective shares of these quickly available apartments were significantly higher, at 52 to 61 percent. For almost every fourth vacant apartment (24 percent), renovation or construction work was planned. A demolition was only planned for four percent of the vacant apartments. Seven percent were intended to be sold or used by the owners themselves. For every fifth vacant apartment, "other reasons" were cited.
The data comes from the Microcensus 2022, which is based on official registers and the survey of twelve percent of the population on various topic areas. According to the Federal Office, around 23 million property owners provided information on their real estate, as did around 8,000 housing companies.
Press release of Destatis on vacant apartments [2022]
Despite Wiesbaden, like many German cities, having a high demand for living space, statistics from the Microcensus 2022 reveal that it also has a notable number of vacant apartments. As of May 15, 2022, around 1.9 million vacant apartments were reported across Germany, with Wiesbaden likely included in this figure.
