5 key reasons to read this story
- Step inside the homes people can barely afford to live in, from Nairobi’s metal shacks to Manila’s flood-prone slums.
- Gain an insight into why the world’s housing shortage is accelerating despite record levels of construction activity.
- Discover how luxury housing coexists with mass homelessness.
- Understand why the effects climate change, migration, and inequality are colliding to create the global housing crisis.
- Learn what happens when shelter becomes the fault line for health, education, and survival for billions.
Thirty-five-year-old Jacinter Awino lives with her husband and four children in a single-room shack made of corrugated metal in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest informal settlement. Their room has no running water or toilet and costs US$380. A government-subsidized one-room home nearby would cost US$3,800, far beyond what the family can afford.
Her situation is not unique. Across the globe, millions live in crowded slums or unfinished buildings while paying crippling rents. UN agencies estimate that about 300 million people are homeless, 1.6 billion people worldwide face severe housing affordability constraints, over 1 billion live in slums or substandard settlements, and about 3 billion people will need access to adequate housing by 2030. Moreover, UN-Habitat and development experts warn that meeting the growing global demand would require building roughly 100,000 new affordable homes every day.
On average, households spend 31% of their income on shelter globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, this figure rises to 43.5%, leaving little for food, schooling, or healthcare. Between 2024 and 2025, the global housing crisis deepened even further, driven by rising poverty, sustained migration, and urbanization in cities already struggling to cope.
Where pressures collide
There is no single ranking of the world’s worst-affected countries in terms of housing. Instead, experts assess housing stress using overlapping indicators such as affordability, the prevalence of informal settlements, the housing supply gap (per capita housing deficit), and levels of homelessness. Drawing on figures from UN-Habitat, the World Bank, and national sources, several countries emerge as being the epicenters where these pressures converge.
Nigeria: overcrowded slums and empty homes
In Nigeria’s largest cities, the contrast is stark. Informal settlements like Makoko have expanded rapidly as urban migration outpaces infrastructure. An estimated 79% of the population live in slums without access to clean water, sanitation, or secure tenure.
On the other hand, there is a boom in luxury housing that few can afford. Nigeria’s minimum wage is around ₦77,000 (US$50), while renting a studio apartment averages about ₦800,000 (US$500). A civil servant in the capital city of Abuja earning around ₦180,000 (US$120) a month may find that decent housing will cost four times their income.
Developers acknowledge the mismatch between supply and demand. Although 60% of Nigerians are unmarried, much of the new housing stock consists of duplexes, leaving smaller households priced out of the market. The result is a growing housing deficit, estimated to be in the tens of millions, despite the existence of vacant or unfinished properties.
India: Explosive demand and shrinking affordability
India’s 1.4 billion population is urbanizing quickly. Cities grew by 7.8% in 2025 as jobs became concentrated in a few major metropolitan areas. Housing supply has not kept pace.
Analysts estimate a shortfall of 10 million affordable homes, a figure that could triple by 2030. Meanwhile, house prices in many cities have more than doubled in the past decade, far outpacing stagnating wages.
According to developer Avneesh Sood, policy incentives favor luxury construction, pushing entry-level buyers out of the market.
The most recent census in 2021 revealed that about 65 million Indians lived in slums but this figure is now widely considered to be outdated. Many millions more live in overcrowded or structurally unsafe housing, often without safe water or sanitation. One study found that 44% of slum households in India lack durable, non-congested dwellings. Rising urban poverty and job losses have also led to makeshift tent camps on the city margins being established.
Bangladesh: climate pressure meets urban poverty
Bangladesh’s urban housing crisis is closely linked to poverty and climate shocks. Flooding, cyclones, and river erosion are forcing hundreds of thousands of people into cities each year, pushing the urban population up by 4% annually.
Recent surveys suggest that roughly 2.2 million people live in slums nationwide, a 60% surge since 1997. Nearly 3 million in Dhaka alone reside in slum-like conditions.
Poverty has also spiked. An August 2025 study found that 28% of Bangladeshis live below the poverty line, up from 18.7% in 2022.
Government programs such as Ashrayan have led to the rehousing of 554,597 families, but that satisfies a mere fraction of the demand.
UN and NGO analysts warn that rapid urban growth (500,000+ rural migrants into Dhaka each year), combined with natural disasters, means that demand outstrips supply. Experts emphasize that without climate-resilient, affordable housing, shortages will continue to worsen.
Brazil: Persistent urban deficit
Brazil has struggled with a shortage of urban housing for decades. Habitat for Humanity and government data estimate a deficit of about 6 million homes, mostly for low-income families. Roughly 25 million Brazilian families live in inadequate or overcrowded housing, often in informal settlements known as favelas.
Access to basic services remains uneven. About 35 million urban residents lack piped drinking water, and 100 million of the country’s 214 million population have no connection to a sewage system.
In big cities such as São Paulo and Rio, housing prices have risen far more quickly than wages. An apartment in São Paulo costs roughly 16 times the average annual income. People earning less than US$1,000/month account for nearly 90% of Brazil’s housing deficit. Without major scaling of affordable housing, including for informal workers, experts warn that Brazil’s slum areas will continue to expand.
Philippines: Informality amid rapid urbanization
In the Philippines, nearly half of urban dwellers live in informal settlements. UN-Habitat estimates there are roughly 3.7 million informal settler families nationwide, including over 500,000 families living in Metro Manila slums.
Official figures put the housing backlog at 6.5 million units in 2022, with predictions estimating tis will climb to 22 million by 2040. Rapid in-migration to cities, frequent natural disasters (20 typhoons and dozens of quakes every year), and limited public housing have compounded the crisis. Low-income families often pay 30–40% of their meager incomes in rent for unsafe shacks on flood-prone land.
A global development challenge
The housing crisis is fundamentally a development issue; it underpins health, education, and livelihoods. Donors and multilateral institutions have key roles to play in closing the affordability gap and creating funding solutions. A recent IFC analysis notes that over 1 billion people live in slums today, and the affordable-housing finance gap could total US$16 trillion.
Solutions exist, from the regularization of tenure to incremental building, but require sustained investment. As UN experts repeatedly warn, the global housing crisis demands renewed policy attention. By prioritizing affordable homes in their portfolios, donor agencies can unlock a multiplier effect whereby stable housing can protect health, keep children in school, and anchor livelihoods. Ultimately, investing in shelter for the world’s poor is as vital as schools and clinics are in the fight against poverty.
