EU-SILC 2024: Main Dwellings
We would like to advise that data published in this news release are not comparable to estimates published for reference years prior to 2023 due to a break in series. More information is available in the technical note published on 20 October 2025. Online document was amended to reflect the relative notes on 24 October 2025.
- According to EU-SILC, during 2024, 4.4 per cent of all those living in private households lived in overcrowded households. There was an increase of 2.0 per cent when compared to EU-SILC 2023.
- Home ownership was the most common type of tenure status in 2024, with 66.4 per cent of all households owning their main dwelling.
- Housing costs were perceived to constitute a heavy burden for 22.3 per cent of all persons living in households.
- According to 37.6 per cent of respondents, pollution, grime or other environmental problems were the most common housing problems.
EU-SILC 2024: Main Dwellings
EU-SILC 2024: Main Dwellings
We would like to advise that data published in this news release are not comparable to estimates published for reference years prior to 2023 due to a break in series. More information is available in the technical note published on 20 October 2025. Online document was amended to reflect the relative notes on 24 October 2025.
EU-SILC is an annual panel survey that collects information on the income and living conditions of private households in Malta and Gozo. In 2024, a total of 4,538 households were interviewed.
In 2024, 65.7 per cent of all inhabited dwellings in Malta and Gozo were either apartments or maisonettes, while 30.9 per cent were semi-detached or terraced houses. Results show that the largest proportion of main dwellings (34.8 per cent) contained five rooms (refer to methodological note 5a). This was followed by 22.8 per cent of main dwellings which were composed of four rooms, and a further 20.1 per cent had six rooms (Tables 1 and 2).
Home ownership was the most common type of tenure status in 2024, with 66.4 per cent of all households owning their main dwelling. Of these, 48.1 per cent were outright owners, meaning that they either never had a mortgage on their main dwelling or have repaid their debt in full. A higher share of homeowners was registered among households with dependent children, which stood at 69.1 per cent, as opposed to households without dependent children, whose share was 65.4 per cent. A different trend was observed among rented main dwellings, whereby 30.6 per cent of households were without dependent children. On the other hand, 27.3 per cent of households renting their main dwelling had dependent children (Table 3).
According to EU-SILC, during 2024, 4.4 per cent of all those living in private households lived in overcrowded households (Chart 1). The overcrowding rate is defined by the number of rooms available in the household in relation to the household’s size and other demographics (refer to methodological note 5c).
Chart 1. Overcrowding rate by year
Note: Refer to methodological note 6 for details on methodological changes implemented in the EU-SILC following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
Housing costs were perceived to constitute a slight burden for 52.8 per cent of all persons living in households. A further 22.3 per cent considered these costs to be a heavy burden, while for the remaining 24.9 per cent, they were of no burden at all (Table 4 and Chart 2). Furthermore, 76.5 per cent of persons who were severely materially deprived, considered housing costs to be a heavy burden. In contrast, only 41.0 per cent of people who were at-risk-of-poverty considered housing costs to be a heavy burden (Table 5).
Chart 2. Perceived financial burden of the total housing cost by household type
Note: Refer to methodological note 6 for details on methodological changes implemented in the EU-SILC following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
Chart 3. Perceived financial burden of the total housing cost by main indicators of relative poverty
Note: Refer to methodological note 6 for details on methodological changes implemented in the EU-SILC following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
Chart 4. Perceived financial burden of the total housing cost by year
Note: Refer to methodological note 6 for details on methodological changes implemented in the EU-SILC following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
Chart 5. Median of the housing cost burden by year
Note: Refer to methodological note 6 for details on methodological changes implemented in the EU-SILC following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
As reported by 37.6 per cent of respondents, the most common housing issues were considered to be pollution, grime, or other environmental problems. Noise from neighbours or from the street, was the second most mentioned problem as experienced by a further 34.0 per cent of the surveyed households (Chart 6).
Chart 6. Households by type of problems with main dwelling
Note: Refer to methodological note 6 for details on methodological changes implemented in the EU-SILC following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
Tables
Tables
We would like to advise that data published in this news release are not comparable to estimates published for reference years prior to 2023 due to a break in series. More information is available in the technical note published on 20 October 2025. Online document was amended to reflect the relative notes on 24 October 2025.
Methodological Notes
5. Definitions:
5a. A room is defined as a space of a housing unit enclosed by walls and with a ceiling, of a size large enough to hold a bed for an adult (four square metres at least) and whose height is at least two metres.
Number of rooms in main dwelling include: kitchens, bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, study rooms and habitable cellars/basements and exclude: garages, kitchenettes, corridors, box rooms, verandas, bathrooms, showers, utility rooms (e.g. washrooms) and rooms used for business only.
5c. The overcrowding rate is defined as the percentage of the population living in an overcrowded household.
A person is considered as living in an overcrowded household if the household does not have at its disposal a minimum number of rooms equal to:
– one room for the household;
– one room per couple in the household;
– one room for each single person aged 18 or more;
– one room per pair of single people of the same gender between 12 and 17 years of age;
– one room for each single person between 12 and 17 years of age and not included in the previous category;
– one room per pair of children under 12 years of age.
5d. The total disposable income of a household is calculated by adding:
– Gross employee cash or near cash income;
– Gross non-cash employee income (only company car and associated costs included);
– Gross cash benefits or losses from self-employment (including royalties);
– Unemployment benefits;
– Old-age benefits;
– Survivors’ benefits;
– Sickness benefits;
– Disability benefits;
– Education-related allowances;
– Income from rental of property or land;
– Family/Children related allowances;
– Social exclusion not elsewhere classified;
– Housing allowances;
– Regular inter-household cash transfers received;
– Interests, dividends, profits from capital investments in unincorporated business;
– Income received by people aged under 16;
– Income received from individual private pension plans.
and deducting:
– regular inter-household cash transfers paid,
– tax on income, and,
– social insurance contributions
5e. Equivalent household size is calculated according to the “modified OECD” equivalence scale which gives:
– a weight of 1.0 to the first adult;
– a weight of 0.5 to any other household member aged 14+;
– a weight of 0.3 to each child aged under 14.
The resulting figure, which is the sum of these weights, is attributed to each member of the household.
5f. Equivalised disposable income (referred to also as national equivalised income) is defined as the household’s total disposable income divided by its “equivalent household size” as defined in Methodological Note 5e) thus taking into account the size and composition of the household, and is attributed to each household member. For example, a household with two adults and two children aged less than 14 would have an equivalised household size of 2.1, which is calculated as follows:
Household items:
– face unexpected expenses;
– afford one week annual holiday away from home;
– avoid arrears (in mortgage, rent, utility bills and/or hire purchase instalments);
– afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian equivalent every second day;
– afford keeping their home appropriately warm;
– have access to a car/van for personal use;
– replace worn-out furniture.
Personal items:
– replace worn-out clothes with some new ones;
– have two pairs of properly fitting shoes (including a pair of all-weather shoes);
– spend a small amount of money each week on him/herself (“pocket money”);
– have regular leisure activities;
– get together with friends/family for a drink/meal at least once a month;
– have an internet connection.
Persons lacking at least five items out of the 13 material and social deprivation items are considered to be materially and socially deprived.
Persons lacking at least seven items out of the 13 material and social deprivation items are considered to be severely materially and socially deprived.
5i. The Work Intensity (WI) of a household is the ratio of the total number of months that all household members have worked during the income reference year and the total number of months the same household members theoretically could have worked in the same period. In line with EU Regulation No. 2019/1700 on person and household surveys, the WI indicator was modified to cover persons aged between 18 and 64 instead of persons aged between 18 and 59. Students aged between 18 and 24 are excluded from the calculation of this indicator. Moreover, households composed only of children aged less than 18, students aged less than 25 and/or people aged 65 or more are completely excluded from the computation of this indicator.
5j. The at-risk-of-poverty rate refers to the share of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold as defined in Methodological Note 5g).
5k. The term housing costs refers to the monthly costs connected with the household’s right to live in the accommodation, and includes: interest paid on mortgages, rent payments, structural insurances, cost of utilities and regular maintenance and repairs.
5l. The household cost burden is defined as the ratio of annual total housing costs (net of housing allowances) to the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances). The median of the housing cost burden distribution refers to the value which divides the total frequency for this distribution at individual level into two halves i.e. it is the value that falls exactly in the middle so that 50% of persons have a household cost burden ratio above this value and 50% are below.
6. Following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing, EU-SILC was benchmarked with updated demographic estimates derived from this census. With the availability of the census, it became possible to apply separate calibration weights for Maltese and foreigners within the EU-SILC, starting from reference year 2023. This updated methodology ensured that the distribution by broad citizenship category in the survey population aligned with the census. An analysis was conducted, through several simulations, to re-estimate the headline indicators to assess the impact this change in methodology had on the estimates prior to 2023. The headline indicators are the core indicators produced as part of the EU-SILC and include the at-risk-of-poverty and social exclusion rate (AROPE), at-risk-of-poverty rate (ARP), measures of material and social deprivation (MSD) and low work intensity (LWI). The analysis showed that, while the update adjusted the weighted counts, it did not significantly impact the estimate of the headline indicators, which remained consistent with those produced prior to the change. Consequently, following consultation with Eurostat, an imminent revision of the time-series was not deemed necessary to ensure full adherence with EU Regulation (2019/1700). Estimates of the headline indicators produced from 2023 onwards are therefore considered comparable with the previous time-series.
Due to the impact the change had on the weighted counts individually for foreign and Maltese nationals, caution must be taken when making comparisons between household and individual counts estimated from 2023 onwards, with counts estimated in previous years.
We encourage all users to consult with the NSO when using time-series data from the EU-SILC survey to ensure accurate interpretation of the results.
7. Following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing, EU-SILC was benchmarked with updated demographic estimates derived from this census. With the availability of the census, it became possible to apply separate calibration weights for Maltese and foreigners within the EU-SILC, starting from reference year 2023. While this updated methodology ensured that the distribution by broad citizenship category in the survey population aligned with the census, estimates of some secondary indicators were significantly impacted by the change in methodology. Secondary indicators are those indicators that are not part of the core set of headline indicators produced from the EU-SILC. Since a revision of the time-series prior to the update in 2023 has not been conducted, these indicators are not considered fully comparable to estimates produced prior to 2023, and therefore a break-in-time-series (denoted with ‘b’) has occurred.
We encourage all users to consult with the NSO when using time-series data from the EU-SILC survey to ensure accurate interpretation of the results.
8. Estimates of variance for main SILC 2024 indicators related to Main Dwellings
| estimate | margin of error at 95% Confidence Interval | 95% confidence interval | ||
| Persons living in an overcrowded household | ||||
| Number | 24,246 | 14,855 | 24,246 ± 14,855 | |
| % | 4.4 | 2.7 | 4.4 ± 2.7 | |
| Persons living in households where the financial burden of the total housing cost is perceived to be: | ||||
| Heavy | Number | 120,826 | 16,810 | 120,826 ± 16,810 |
| % | 22.3 | 3.1 | 22.3 ± 3.1 | |
| Slight | Number | 286,400 | 20,064 | 286,400 ± 20,064 |
| % | 52.8 | 3.7 | 52.8 ± 3.7 | |
| No burden at all | Number | 135,034 | 16,268 | 135,034 ± 16,268 |
| % | 24.9 | 3.0 | 24.9 ± 3.0 | |
| Persons living in households having the following tenure status over main dwelling: | ||||
| Owned | Number | 374,413 | 20,907 | 374,413 ± 20,907 |
| % | 68.1 | 3.8 | 68.1 ± 3.8 | |
| Rented | Number | 155,153 | 19,807 | 155,153 ± 19,807 |
| % | 28.2 | 3.6 | 28.2 ± 3.6 | |
| Provided free of charge | Number | 20,619 | 11,554 | 20,619 ± 11,554 |
| % | 3.7 | 2.1 | 3.7 ± 2.1 | |
