Average Living Space Per Person by Country

Updated 4 August 2026 · Sources: OECD Better Life Index (rooms per person), English Housing Survey 2024-25, ONS Families and Households 2023, NBS China / MOHURD

Quick answer

Living space per person is measured two ways. By rooms per person, the OECD ranks Canada highest at 2.6, followed by New Zealand and the United States (2.4 each), then Belgium, Ireland and Norway (2.1); the OECD average is 1.7 and the UK sits at 2.0. Türkiye and Russia are lowest at 1.0. By floor area, the UK works out at roughly 41 m² (441 ft²) per person (96 m² average dwelling ÷ 2.36 people, ONS 2023), and China's urban residents passed 40 m² per person by the end of 2023. Rooms per person is the more consistent cross-country measure because, unlike floor area, it does not depend on how each country defines a square metre.

Canada 2.6 rooms/person vs OECD average 1.7

The most consistent cross-country measure of living space. The UK sits at 2.0 rooms per person, above the OECD average.

Most (Canada)

2.6 rooms

OECD average

1.7 rooms

United Kingdom

2.0 rooms

Least (RUS / TUR)

1.0 rooms

Two ways to measure living space per person

Rooms per person (OECD). Habitable rooms (excluding kitchens and bathrooms) divided by the number of occupants. This is the cleanest cross-country comparison because it does not depend on each country's floor-area definition. The OECD publishes it for its member countries; the ranked table below uses it.
Floor area per person (m²). Average dwelling size divided by average household size. More intuitive, but there is no single global dataset that measures it on one consistent basis, so cross-country floor-area-per-person figures are approximate. We show it only where both inputs are primary-sourced.

Living Space Per Person, Ranked (Rooms Per Person)

#	Country	Rooms per person
1	Canada	2.6
2	New Zealand	2.4
2	United States	2.4
4	Belgium	2.1
4	Ireland	2.1
4	Norway	2.1
7	Luxembourg	2.0
7	Netherlands	2.0
7	United Kingdom	2.0
10	Denmark	1.9
10	Finland	1.9
10	Japan	1.9
10	Spain	1.9
10	Switzerland	1.9
15	France	1.8
15	Germany	1.8
17	Estonia	1.7
17	Portugal	1.7
17	Sweden	1.7
20	Austria	1.6
20	Iceland	1.6
20	Slovenia	1.6
23	Czechia	1.5
23	Korea	1.5
25	Hungary	1.4
25	Italy	1.4
27	Greece	1.2
27	Israel	1.2
27	Latvia	1.2
30	Mexico	1.1
30	Poland	1.1
30	Slovak Republic	1.1
33	Russia	1.0
33	Türkiye	1.0
	OECD average	1.7

Source: OECD Better Life Index, Housing (rooms per person), Canada 2.6 and OECD average 1.7 re-confirmed August 2026. Australia, Brazil and South Africa are omitted because the current OECD dataset does not publish a precise rooms-per-person figure for them. Rooms per person counts habitable rooms (excluding kitchens and bathrooms) divided by occupants; the EU average on the comparable Eurostat measure is about 1.6.

Floor Area Per Person (m²)

The other way to think about living space is floor area per person: average dwelling size divided by average household size. It is more intuitive than rooms, but the underlying floor-area definitions differ by country (see our house size by country methodology), so treat cross-country comparisons as approximate. The two figures below are shown because both of their inputs are primary-sourced.

Country	m² per person	ft² per person	Basis
United Kingdom	41	441	96 m² average dwelling ÷ 2.36 people per household
China (urban)	40	431	Urban per-capita living space, passed 40 m² by end-2023 (up from 38.6 m² in the 2020 census)

Sources: English Housing Survey 2024-25; ONS Families and Households 2023 (average household 2.36); NBS China / MOHURD. To estimate any country's floor area per person, divide its average dwelling size (see the country table) by its average household size.

What the Ranking Shows

The countries with the most living space per person, Canada (2.6), New Zealand and the United States (2.4), are the low-density, high-income settler economies that also top the average house size by country ranking. They pair large dwellings with relatively small households, so space per person is high on both measures.

Western Europe clusters between 1.4 and 2.1 rooms per person. The UK (2.0), Netherlands and Luxembourg (2.0) sit toward the top of that band; Italy (1.4) and Greece (1.2) toward the bottom, reflecting larger average household sizes and more multi-generational living. At the foot of the table, Russia and Türkiye (1.0) average roughly one habitable room per occupant.

Rooms per person and floor area per person usually move together, but not always: a country with large rooms and larger households can rank lower on rooms per person than its floor-area figure alone would suggest. That is why the OECD room measure, which sidesteps floor-area definitions, is the fairer cross-country comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average living space per person by country?

On the OECD's rooms-per-person measure, Canada has the most living space per person at 2.6 rooms, followed by New Zealand and the United States at 2.4 each, then Belgium, Ireland and Norway at 2.1. The OECD average is 1.7 rooms per person; the UK sits above it at 2.0. Türkiye and Russia are lowest at 1.0. By floor area, the UK works out at roughly 41 m² per person (96 m² average dwelling divided by 2.36 people, ONS 2023) and China's urban residents passed 40 m² per person by the end of 2023.

Which country has the most living space per person?

By the OECD rooms-per-person measure, Canada leads at 2.6 rooms per person, the highest in the OECD. New Zealand and the United States follow at 2.4 each. These low-density, high-income economies build large homes for relatively small households, which pushes rooms per person well above the OECD average of 1.7.

How is living space per person measured?

There are two common measures. Rooms per person counts habitable rooms (excluding kitchens and bathrooms) divided by the number of occupants; the OECD publishes this for its member countries and it is the most consistent cross-country figure because it does not depend on how each country defines a square metre. Floor area per person divides average dwelling size by average household size, but no single global dataset measures it on one consistent basis, so cross-country floor-area-per-person figures are approximate.

How much living space does the average person in the UK have?

The UK sits at 2.0 rooms per person on the OECD measure, above the OECD average of 1.7. By floor area, the average is roughly 41 m² (441 ft²) per person, calculated as the 96 m² average English dwelling (English Housing Survey 2024-25) divided by 2.36 people per household (ONS 2023). This is a mean across all household types; a single-person household has far more space per person than a family of four.

What is a good amount of living space per person?

There is no universal standard, but the OECD treats one room per person as a rough adequacy floor, and overcrowding measures in the UK and EU flag dwellings that fall below room-per-occupant thresholds. Most high-income countries sit between 1.5 and 2.6 rooms per person. On floor area, 30 to 45 m² per person is typical across Western Europe and North America.

Convert a Floor Area

Square Metres (m²)

Square Feet (ft²)

41 m² is approximately a small one-bedroom flat.

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About the author

Oliver Wakefield-Smith

Founder of Digital Signet, an independent research firm publishing data-led property, planning, and conversion tools. Content is sourced from ONS, Nationwide, RICS, MHCLG planning data, and UK building regulations. Confirm planning and regulatory figures with your local authority or a qualified professional.

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