Number of homeless people in Germany is increasing

Social - Number of homeless people in Germany is increasing

The number of homeless people accommodated in Germany has significantly increased. According to the Statistical Federal Office (Destatis), around 439,500 were accommodated by municipalities as of January 31, 2024. This is an increase compared to previous years - there were 372,000 people in 2023 and 178,100 in 2022.

The increase in accommodated homeless people was mainly due to improvements in data reporting, according to the Federal Office. Among the recorded persons are those living in emergency and community shelters, as well as in commercial accommodations such as pensions and hotels. In addition, there are people living on the street who were not statistically recorded.

According to statisticians, approximately 136,900 of these were female Ukrainian citizens and their male counterparts. "A total of 377,900 and therefore significantly more persons with foreign nationality were reported compared to the previous year (2023: 311,900)", it was stated.

A large proportion were men and younger than 25 years old.

On average, the accommodated homeless were 31 years old, and 40% were younger than 25. According to the information provided, more than half of all accommodated people were men.

With 105,100, particularly many people without housing were accommodated in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Baden-Württemberg, it was 92,700 people, and in Berlin, it was 47,300. "The fewest accommodated homeless were reported in the Saarland (2,600), Saxony-Anhalt (1,000), and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (700 persons)."

1. The Statistical Office of the Federation in Wiesbaden has set a deadline for municipalities across Germany to submit their annual homelessness statistics.
2. Despite the deadline, there are still concerns about the under-reporting of homeless people living on the streets who are not statistically recorded.
3. The Social Affairs Ministry in Germany has urged the Statistical Federal Office to improve its methods for collecting data on homelessness, particularly in remote areas.

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