Most homeless people in big cities and Almere, fewest in Assen

The number of homeless people differs strongly per region, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) discovered when studying the number of people who slept in a shelter location last year. As expected, all four large cities are in the top 5 of the list for homelessness. More surprisingly, Almere is in joint first place with Rotterdam. Assen has, proportionally, the lowest number of homeless people.

CBS studied the number of registered homeless people in 35 different regions for the first time in connection with the government’s goal for everyone to have a home by 2030. This concerns people who spent the night in an emergency shelter, a homeless shelter, a transit hotel, or a temporary shelter in 2023.

Compared to the number of residents, the number of registered homeless people was highest in the regions of Almere and Rotterdam, at approximately 3,3 per 1,000 residents. Utrecht and Amsterdam follow at 2.6 per 1,000, and then The Hauge at 2.0 per 1,000 residents. The number of homeless people was lowest in the Assen region.

In absolute numbers, Amsterdam had the most registered homeless people at almost 2,700, followed by Rotterdam (2,500), Utrecht (2,200), The Hague (1,500), and Almere (1,200).

The majority of the people affected by homelessness counted in this study were between 28 and 39 years old (30 percent). Almost a quarter were young adults between 18 and 23. Eight percent were older than 60 years. Men were the largest group (68 percent)

The CBS study only counted people with a citizen service number who slept in a shelter at some point during the year. Homeless people who always live on the streets or those who stay with family or friends were not included.

Earlier this year, CBS reported that approximately 30,600 homeless people lived in the Netherlands last year. Shelter organizations have criticized the statistics office’s calculation method on this front, pointing out that CBS does not include children and people who spend their nights on friends’ couches. Women and children often find a couch to sleep on, but that does not mean they have a home. Migrant workers, who don’t always have a citizens’ registration number, are also disproportionately affected by homelessness.