How much of each European country’s population lives in an apartment? And is there a correlation with population density?
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You would think that people in more densely populated countries are more likely to live in an apartment. This map shows that it’s not the case. The 5 most densely populated countries in Europe (for which there is data on this map) are Malta, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK. Malta does have one of the highest percentages of people living in apartments in Europe. The other 4 however, have one of the lowest rates in Europe. Despite being the 2nd most densely populated country on this map, the Netherlands has the 4th lowest rate of people living in apartments. The UK even has the 2nd lowest rate of people living in apartments. Just outside of the top 5 of most densely populated countries, we find Germany, Switzerland and Italy. These 3 countries do have more than 50% of its population living in apartments.
Let’s have a look at the least densely populated countries: Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Norway and Finland do have a relatively low rate of people living in apartments. The other three have about half of their population living apartments. Especially for Iceland, the least densely populated country in all of Europe, this is surprising. This could be the result of two thirds of their population living in the capital city Reykjavik. For Estonia, and also the other Baltic countries, this is probably because they were part of the Soviet Union. Their major cities still have large Soviet style apartment blocks in their suburbs.
Overall, this map shows that, contrary to what you might expect, a high population density doesn’t necessarily mean more people living in apartments.
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