Country statistics

27 out of 189 in Human Development Index rating
(UNDP, 2019)

$22,070 Average annual salary per person (World Bank, 2021)

21,220 people in czech republic were homeless in 2019 (FEANTSA, 2019)

A landlocked country in Europe, the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, has a population of 10.7 million people. With an evenly distributed population throughout most of the country, 74.2% of the population live in urban areas. 1.2 million people live in the capital city of Prague (CIA Factbook, 2020). 

The Czech Republic has various long-term challenges, including a rapidly ageing population, a shortage of skilled workers and a lagging education and health care system. They are currently in the process of diversifying away from manufacturing and moving towards a more high-tech, service based economy (CIA Factbook, 2020).

As of 2019, the government estimated 21,220 people were homeless in Czech Republic, of these 12.6% were under the age of 18 [2,680 people] (FEANTSA, 2019).

Estimates from 2017 found that there were almost 119,000 people at risk of housing loss in the Czech Republic. Estimates for people living without a home was 68,500. Of those, 74.4% were male and 23.6% were female (FEANTSA).

Of this figure, 11.9% are under 18 and 10.3% over 65. FEANTSA conclude that a total of 187,500 people have experienced housing exclusion.

The FEANTSA study also found that "approximately 37% of Czech children live in households that suffer from some housing problems (insufficient heating, humidity and leakage, lack of space, noise, dirt and vandalism in the child’s surroundings).

The quality of housing has been shown to have a direct impact on children (7- 12 years old) experiencing severe problems in school, along with health and communication problems.

In 2020, the Czech government set four goals to tackle homelessness:

1. Improving access to housing – standardising state support for public housing and creating a functioning system of homelessness prevention. This includes creating a process to support people during the transition from being homeless to entering housing.

2. Social services will better respond to the needs of homeless people and act to support people at risk of losing housing.

3. Increase accessibility of health care, focusing on prevention, with comprehensive healthcare for homeless people.

4. Improve awareness and co-operation through a network which will gather information. This includes gathering statistics, records and communicating with people who are homeless (Borgen Project, 2020)