Inadequate dwelling (i51)

In 2022, 14.3% of the population in Belgium lived in a dwelling with a leaking roof, damp walls, floors or foundations, or with rot in the window frames or the floor. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must be reduced to zero percent. This objective will not be reached by continuing the trend since 2004 (data available in November 2023). The population in Belgium lived in an inadequate dwelling is therefore developing unfavourably.

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Inadequate dwelling - Belgium - trend assessment

percentage of population

 20002004200520102015201820192020202220252030
observations--13.515.019.018.217.916.7--14.3----
trend and extrapolation (November 2023)--14.214.717.518.317.416.916.415.414.313.1
objective 20300.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0

break in series: 2009, 2019

Statbel; Eurostat (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), ilc_mdho01, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) & calculations FPB.

Inadequate dwelling - Belgium and international comparison

percentage of population

 20042005201020132015201820192020202120222018//20042018//20132022//20192020//2010
Belgium13.515.019.018.118.217.916.715.715.514.32.0-0.2-5.0-1.9
EU27----16.315.615.313.612.614.8-------2.7---1.0
//: Average Growth Rates

break in series: BE 2009, 2019

Statbel; Eurostat (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), ilc_mdho01, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) and direct communication by Statbel on 07/03/2023.

Inadequate dwelling by region - Belgium

percentage of population

 200820102013201520182019202020222018//20082018//20132022//2019
Brussels-Capital Region23.124.826.726.825.824.724.927.11.1-0.73.1
Flemish Region14.916.814.914.314.313.412.310.2-0.4-0.8-8.7
Walloon Region22.521.421.022.521.620.118.717.4-0.40.6-4.7
//: Average Growth Rates

The margin of uncertainty for this indicator is indicated in the text for the latest year. Break in series: 2009, 2019

Statbel; Eurostat (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), ilc_mdho01, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) and direct communication by Statbel on 07/03/2023.

Inadequate dwelling by sex - Belgium

percentage of population

 2004200520102013201520182019202020222018//20042018//20132022//2019
females13.715.419.217.918.218.317.316.014.52.10.4-5.7
males13.314.618.718.318.217.616.115.314.02.0-0.8-4.6
//: Average Growth Rates

break in series: 2009, 2019

Statbel; Eurostat (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), ilc_mdho01, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) and direct communication by Statbel on 07/03/2023.

Inadequate dwelling by age - Belgium

percentage of population

 2004200520102013201520182019202020222018//20042018//20132022//2019
<1815.718.423.020.822.021.218.818.316.82.20.4-3.7
18-6413.714.719.018.918.618.717.516.114.72.2-0.2-5.6
>649.711.513.611.612.411.711.811.29.91.30.2-5.7
//: Average Growth Rates

break in series: 2009, 2019

Statbel; Eurostat (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), ilc_mdho01, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) and direct communication by Statbel on 07/03/2023.

Inadequate dwelling by household type - Belgium

percentage of population

 2004200520102013201520182019202020222018//20042018//20132022//2019
single person16.316.419.820.318.418.317.716.015.60.8-2.1-4.1
single person with dependent children24.128.832.427.129.128.626.522.824.01.21.1-3.2
two adults10.010.613.814.214.613.212.912.310.82.0-1.4-5.7
two adults with one dependent child13.613.720.717.814.216.916.114.213.21.6-1.0-6.4
two adults with two dependent children14.611.615.717.318.416.014.914.014.20.7-1.5-1.6
two adults with three or more dependent children13.620.221.420.724.024.219.121.216.54.23.2-4.8
//: Average Growth Rates

break in series: 2009, 2019

Statbel; Eurostat (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), ilc_mdho01, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) and direct communication by Statbel on 07/03/2023.

Inadequate dwelling by income - Belgium

percentage of population

 2004200520102013201520182019202020222018//20042018//20132022//2019
quintile 119.623.028.925.729.326.223.421.921.02.10.3-3.5
quintile 213.715.820.221.320.318.717.916.814.62.2-2.6-6.6
quintile 313.916.719.016.916.117.615.716.515.01.70.7-1.6
quintile 411.510.914.814.112.813.814.711.812.11.4-0.3-6.2
quintile 58.99.012.712.612.612.911.911.28.62.70.5-10.3
//: Average Growth Rates

break in series: 2009, 2019

Calculations FPB based on Statbel (2023), European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Direct communication on 17/02/2023.

Definition: the share of the population living in a dwelling with a leaking roof, damp walls, floors or foundations, or rot in the window frames or the floor.

The data are based on the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey. Statbel organises this EU-harmonised survey in Belgium and makes the results available, in particular to Eurostat. 2004 is the first year for which European harmonised data have been collected to calculate the indicator. The data used here come from Eurostat, which publishes detailed and comparable results between EU Member States. Since these data are based on a survey, a margin of uncertainty must be taken into account. The confidence intervals are available on request from Statbel.

From 2019 onwards, the survey methodology has been thoroughly reviewed for better accuracy. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted data collection. This makes it difficult to compare the results of SILC 2020 with those of previous years. (Statbel, 2021). Therefore, they are not used to calculate and evaluate the long-term trend.

Goal: the share of the population living in inadequate dwellings must be reduced to zero per cent by 2030.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 11.1: “By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums”. The share of the population living in inadequate dwellings should tend to zero.

The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development includes the following objective: “The preconditions for the well-being of citizens will be met, i.e. (...) decent housing” (introduction of the challenge A society promoting social cohesion; Belgian Official Gazette, 08/10/2013).

International comparison: in 2020, the share of the population living in inadequate dwellings is higher in Belgium (15.7%) than in the EU27 (14.8%). The difference between the EU27 and Belgium increases from 2.7 to 4.1 percentage points between 2010 and 2019, however with a sharp decrease in 2020 to 0.9 percentage point. When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group with average performance in 2020 and is below the European average. In that year, Finland ranked first with 4.5% and Cyprus last with 39.1%.

UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 11.1.1 - Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing.

Sources

More information is available in French and Dutch.