‘Forever Renter’ Index Maps the Countries Where Long-Term Renting Is Most Entrenched
Posted by Luxo Living on
Homeownership is slipping out of reach for a growing share of the world's population, and our new global study reveals exactly where long-term renting has become the default rather than a stepping stone. Our Forever Renter Global Index names Colombia, Denmark and Chile as the countries where renting for life is most entrenched, with the term ‘forever renter’ emerging to describe a generation locked out of homeownership, not by choice, but by affordability pressures and structural constraints reshaping housing markets worldwide.
We built the index by analysing housing data across 39 OECD member countries, using the most recent available year for each metric between 2017 and 2024. Renter share, homeownership rates, rent burden, housing cost overburden, overcrowding, living space, and house price-to-income growth since 2015 were combined into a single composite score, giving us a clear picture of where long-term renting has become the norm rather than a fallback.
What the Forever Renter Index Measures
The Forever Renter Global Index quantifies exactly where long-term renting has become most entrenched. We combined renter share, homeownership rates, rent burden, housing cost overburden, overcrowding, living space, and price-to-income data into a single composite score out of 100. The higher a country scores, the more entrenched long-term renting has become there.
The Top 20 ‘Forever Renter’ Nations:
| Rank | Country | Forever Renter Score /100 |
Renter Share % |
Homeownership % |
Rent Burden % |
Overburden Rate % |
Overcrowding % |
Rooms/Person (renters) |
Price-to-Income Index (2015=100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombia | 71.4 | 40.7 | 35.9 | 20.6 | 18.7 | 30.4 | 1.3 | 89.7 |
| 2 | Denmark | 67.2 | 47.5 | 52.2 | 27.8 | 22.7 | 8.3 | 2.1 | 105.2 |
| 3 | Chile | 64.2 | 26.5 | 57.0 | 27.3 | 17.4 | N/A | N/A | 120.8 |
| 4= | Luxembourg | 59.7 | 36.0 | 62.3 | 25.5 | 20.1 | 7.0 | 2.0 | 120.5 |
| 4= | Switzerland | 59.7 | 61.2 | 38.2 | 24.6 | 7.2 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 125.8 |
| 6 | Canada | 54.6 | 31.3 | 68.7 | 24.5 | 10.1 | N/A | 1.9 | 137.0 |
| 7 | Sweden | 54.3 | 38.9 | 58.2 | 28.3 | 8.7 | 15.1 | 1.7 | 95.9 |
| 8 | Greece | 54.0 | 24.6 | 68.2 | 24.3 | 13.1 | 16.9 | 1.5 | 115.9 |
| 9 | Iceland | 53.7 | 19.2 | 78.4 | 27.6 | 18.3 | 8.7 | 1.6 | N/A |
| 10 | New Zealand | 52.9 | 41.4 | 57.5 | 25.9 | N/A | 0.6 | N/A | 119.6 |
| 11 | Finland | 51.7 | 38.1 | 61.0 | 30.6 | 9.5 | 11.9 | 1.7 | 81.0 |
| 12 | Germany | 51.5 | 55.4 | 41.0 | 18.4 | 4.8 | 9.5 | 1.8 | 109.1 |
| 13 | Austria | 49.4 | 43.7 | 47.9 | 19.4 | 4.9 | 10.7 | 1.6 | 115.9 |
| 14 | Portugal | 49.1 | 18.5 | 72.1 | 20.5 | 15.8 | 6.3 | 1.9 | 148.8 |
| 15 | Australia | 48.1 | 31.7 | 62.7 | 23.1 | 6.5 | N/A | N/A | 121.8 |
| 16 | United States | 48.0 | 33.1 | 65.3 | 24.4 | 12.0 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 130.7 |
| 17 | Netherlands | 45.5 | 41.2 | 57.9 | 25.5 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 130.4 |
| 18 | Norway | 42.9 | 25.8 | 72.3 | 28.5 | 8.9 | 5.7 | 2.1 | 108.9 |
| 19 | France | 42.1 | 39.2 | 58.6 | 21.8 | 5.6 | 7.6 | 1.9 | 93.6 |
| 20 | Mexico | 41.7 | 15.0 | 69.6 | 15.1 | 3.8 | 30.0 | 1.4 | N/A |
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Luxo Living’s Forever Renter Global Index, based on OECD Affordable Housing Database indicators (most recent available year per metric, 2017–2024). Renter Share % - Share of households that rent (private + subsidised), Homeownership % - Share of households that own their home outright or with a mortgage, Renter burden % - Median housing costs (rent, utilities, taxes) as a % of disposable income for renter households, Overburden rate % - Share of households spending more than 40% of income on housing costs, Overcrowding % - Share of households living in overcrowded conditions (fewer rooms than household size requires), Room/person (renters) - Average number of rooms per person in renter households, PTI index (2015=100) - House price-to-income ratio, indexed to 2015 = 100; higher = less affordable than in 2015.
Colombia, Denmark and Chile Lead the Global Rankings
Colombia tops our index with a forever renter score of 71.4 out of 100, influenced by a high renter share and one of the steepest overcrowding rates in the study. Denmark (67.2) and Chile (64.2) round out the top three, while Luxembourg and Switzerland tie for fourth at 59.7. Finland, Germany, Australia, the United States and Mexico also feature in the top 20, showing that entrenched renting isn't confined to any one region, economic tier or housing system.
Colombian renters face a rent burden of 20.6% (the median share of disposable income that renter households spend on rent, utilities and taxes) and outnumber homeowners, with a 40.7% renter share against just 35.9% homeownership. Overcrowding hits 30.4%, the highest in the top 20 and second highest of all 39 countries analysed, trailing only Latvia at 31.6%. New Zealand sits at the opposite end, posting the lowest overcrowding rate in the top 20 at just 0.6%, exposing two very different faces of the forever renter phenomenon: acute housing shortages in emerging markets like Colombia, and cost and tenure pressure in mature ones.
Denmark ranks second with a score of 67.2. Renter share sits at 47.5% against a 52.2% homeownership rate, meaning close to half the population rents despite a relatively strong ownership base. Denmark also carries the highest rent burden of the top five nations, at 27.8% of income, and a housing cost overburden rate of 22.7%, the steepest of any country studied.
Chile takes third with a score of 64.2, driven primarily by severe cost overburden and rent burden, compounded by house prices rising well ahead of incomes. Renter share sits at a comparatively modest 26.5%, while homeownership sits at 57%, though rent burden runs high at 27.3%. Chile also records a price-to-income index of 120.8, meaning house prices have climbed roughly 21% faster than incomes since 2015. It's worth noting that Chile's overall score reflects only five of the seven metrics measured, spanning tenure and affordability indicators, so its ranking is based on that combination only.
Luxembourg is in fourth place, scoring 59.7 overall. Renter share there sits at 36% against a 62.3% homeownership rate, while overcrowding is low at just 7%, indicating renters there are not short on space. What pushes Luxembourg into the top five is cost: a housing cost overburden rate of 20.1% and a price-to-income index of 120.5, showing that even relatively comfortable renters are being squeezed by house prices rising well ahead of incomes.
Switzerland also ties for fourth with 59.7, recording the highest renter share of all 39 countries at 61.2% against a homeownership rate of 38.2%. Unlike the other countries in the top five, its overburden rate (7.2%) and overcrowding rate (5.6%) are both low, though its price-to-income index (125.8) is the fastest rising of the top five.
Where Australia Ranks
Australia sits 15th in the Forever Renter Global Index. Renters account for 31.7% of Australian households, against a national homeownership rate of 62.7%. Median rent burden (the median housing costs of rent, utilities and taxes as a share of disposable income for renter households) sits at 23.1%, broadly in line with comparable markets such as the Netherlands (25.5%) and the United States (24.4%).
Despite Australian house prices being firmly in the spotlight, Australia is actually among the better performers on a global scale, but it's worth noting that Australia's overall score in this study reflects tenure and affordability metrics only, not overall housing pressure in the country. Only 6.5% of Australian households face severe housing cost overburden, meaning they spend more than 40% of income on housing, one of the more moderate overburden rates among the global top 20. That's well below Denmark (22.7%) and Luxembourg (20.1%).
Where Australia stands out is in house price growth relative to income. Our price-to-income index sits at 121.8 against a 2015 baseline of 100, meaning house prices have grown almost 22% faster than incomes over the past decade. That places Australia 6th among the 31 countries with available price-to-income data, for the steepest rise in house prices relative to income since 2015, behind Portugal (148.8), Canada (137.0), the United States (130.7), the Netherlands (130.4) and Switzerland (125.8). New Zealand ranks higher than Australia at 10th, scoring 52.9, driven mainly by a higher renter share (41.4% versus 31.7% in Australia) and a lower homeownership rate (57.5% versus 62.7%).
Other Global Patterns
Our study surfaces distinct regional patterns in how homeownership pressure plays out. Switzerland and Germany record the highest total renter shares among the countries analysed, which may reflect deep-rooted private rental markets rather than affordability pressure alone. Denmark and Luxembourg post the highest housing cost overburden rates of any country studied, meaning the largest shares of their populations spend more than 40% of their income on housing.
Finland, Norway and Sweden carry the OECD's highest median rent burdens, signalling that renting is expensive relative to income even in wealthy Nordic markets. Portugal, Canada and the United States have seen the sharpest rise in house prices relative to income since 2015, a sign that buying is becoming comparatively less attainable even in countries with lower overall renter shares.
Iceland has the highest homeownership rate among the top 20 nations at 78.4%, yet sits ninth overall. Its small pool of renters faces one of the steepest rent burdens (27.6%) and overburden rates (18.3%) in the study, suggesting a high national homeownership rate doesn't protect the renters left behind from acute cost pressure.
Renting Is Reshaping How People Live
'Forever renters' are no longer a niche group, and this shift is changing how an entire generation thinks about their home.
“Forever renters are no longer a niche group, they're shaping how an entire generation lives, decorates, and invests in their homes. Just because homeownership feels out of reach doesn't mean people stop wanting a home that feels considered and lasting. As renting becomes the default rather than a stepping stone, furniture suppliers like us have had to evolve, shifting toward modular, multi-use pieces built for a generation that's always on the move,” says Winston Tu, CEO of Luxo Living.
How the Data Was Collected
The index scores 39 OECD countries using seven housing metrics sourced from the OECD Affordable Housing Database: total renter share, homeownership rate, median rent burden, housing cost overburden rate, overcrowding rate, rooms per person, and the house price-to-income index (2015 = 100). Each metric was normalised on a 0 to 100 scale relative to the other countries studied, then combined into a weighted composite score, with renter share and cost overburden weighted most heavily, followed by rent burden and overcrowding, then homeownership rate, rooms per person and price-to-income. Homeownership rate and rooms per person are inverted before scoring, since lower values indicate more entrenched renting conditions.
The data covers 2017 to 2024, with the most recent available year selected for each metric, and where a metric was unavailable for a country, its weight was redistributed, and the remaining weights rescaled accordingly. Chile, for example, ranks third despite lacking published overcrowding and rooms-per-person data; on every metric the OECD does publish for Chile, it scores at or near the most extreme value in the dataset. Australia is similarly missing overcrowding and rooms-per-person data, as the OECD does not publish this indicator for Australia, so its score reflects tenure and affordability metrics only.
Final Thoughts
The Forever Renter Global Index shows just how widespread the shift towards long-term renting has become, spanning emerging and mature economies alike. Whether it's driven by affordability pressure, cost overburden, or overcrowding, the result is the same: more people are settling into rental homes for longer, and often for good.
At Luxo Living, we believe renting for the long term shouldn't mean compromising on comfort or style. That's why we design modular, multi-use furniture built to move with you, wherever home happens to be next. Explore our range of renter-friendly furniture and make the most of your space, however long you're renting for.