Despite the dramatic shortage of housing in many cities in Germany, people are actually living in larger and larger homes. This emerges from new data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Average apartment size in Germany has increased

More than two million apartments have been added to the German housing market over the past 10 years - and yet seem to have done little to ease the ongoing housing crisis. An explanation for this curious phenomenon can partly be found in new figures from the Federal Statistical Office: while the average household size in Germany is decreasing, the average apartment size is actually increasing. 

The numbers are as follows. In 2019, apartments in Germany were 91,9 square metres, on average, equating to 47 square metres per inhabitant. This means that the living space per apartment has increased by one square metre, and the living space per inhabitant by two square metres, since 2010. 

10 years ago, the living space per inhabitant was 45 square metres and, in 2018, 46,7 square metres. This creeping growth is particularly clear when you consider the long-term trend: At the turn of the millennium, the average was just 39,5 square metres per person. The calculation also includes one- and two-family houses. 

277.400 new homes built in Germany in 2019

The statisticians put Germany’s current housing stock at 42,5 million units, including both residential and non-residential buildings. That’s 0,7 percent (or 277.400 apartments) more than a year earlier. In the medium term, the portfolio has grown significantly, increasing by five percent since 2010. At the end of 2019, there were 511 apartments per 1.000 inhabitants.

The increasing size of apartments is also reflected in this data: since 2010, the total area of housing stock in Germany grew very strongly. Rising 6,2 percent, it now covers almost 3,9 billion square metres.