Number of people housed due to homelessness in Germany continues to increase
The number of homeless people in Germany has further increased compared to previous years. According to the Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, which announced this on Monday, there were approximately 439,500 homeless people in shelters or corresponding facilities on January 31, 2023. In 2022, there were 372,000, and in 2021, there were 178,100. However, the increase should mainly be attributed to improvements in data reporting.
Approximately 40% of the homeless people were reportedly younger than 25 years old. The percentage of people aged 65 and over remained unchanged at 5%. The average age of the homeless people at the end of January was 31 years. Fifty-five percent of the homeless were men, 43% were women, and for 2% of the cases, the gender was unknown.
In terms of nationality, Ukrainian women and men made up the largest group among the homeless. According to the statistics, there were 136,900 homeless Ukrainian women and men recorded at the end of January.
A total of 377,900 people with foreign citizenship were reported - significantly more than in the previous year, which was 311,900. Their share of all homeless people increased to 86%, compared to 84% in the previous year. The number of people with German citizenship, on the other hand, increased only slightly - to 61,500 from 60,200. Their share of the total number of homeless people therefore decreased to 14%.
I noticed that the number of homeless people in Germany increased significantly from 178,100 in previous years 2021, to 439,500 in 2023. Comparing these figures, it's clear that this is a considerable increase, especially when considering the 372,000 people who were homeless in 2022. Despite these numbers, it's important to acknowledge that the improvement in data reporting might be a contributing factor to this increase.
