Fewer people in Portugal are living in overcrowded homes or homes with severe housing deprivation, i.e., dampness, no shower, or limited natural light, according to idealista.

However, the data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) isn't all good news. This is because there has also been a "worsening in the financial conditions associated with housing."

These are the main conclusions drawn by the INE from the results of the 2024 Living Conditions and Income Survey, which analyses both the physical conditions of the homes where families live in the country and the financial conditions associated with housing.

Regarding the homes where households live, the results suggest "an improvement in physical housing conditions" in 2024, according to the report. Several factors contribute to this conclusion:

  • Fewer families living in overcrowded homes (i.e., where the number of habitable rooms was insufficient for the household): the housing overcrowding rate decreased from 12.9% in 2023 to 11.2% in 2024 nationwide;
  • Fewer households living in severe housing deprivation (humidity, lack of bathrooms, or insufficient natural light): "In 2024, 4.9% of residents lived in severe housing deprivation, a reduction compared to 2023 (6.0%)";
  • More families living in thermally comfortable homes: a reduction was also observed in 2024 in the number of people living in households without the financial capacity to maintain adequate heating (from 20.8% in the previous year to 15.7%). Even so, the financial inability to maintain heating remained more common in Portugal than in the European Union countries as a whole (9.2%). This situation affected 30.9% of the population at risk of poverty and more than a fifth of the elderly.


However, last year there was also "a worsening in financial conditions associated with housing compared to 2023," concludes the Portuguese statistics office. This takes into account households' disposable income and expenses associated with housing, such as rent, mortgage interest, and expenses for water, electricity, insurance, condominium fees, or minor repairs.

"In 2024, the median housing expense burden was 12.0%, representing an increase compared to the previous year (9.7%)," reveals the INE. These housing expenses weighed 22.5% on the population at risk of poverty, which is more than double the value recorded the previous year (10.4%).

Greater Lisbon and the Algarve were the only regions with a median housing expenditure burden higher than the national average: 13.4% and 12.8%, respectively. The Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, and the Central region, had the lowest values ​​for this indicator.