Question not easy, as what people call home varies around the world. Also, no one keeps track of the number of homes in the world.
In Finland, homes can be counted as at least actual apartments where someone lives permanently. At the end of 2022, there were 2.8 million such homes.
In addition to them, there will be homes for those living in dormitories and institutions such as nursing homes and hospitals. Someone can also live temporarily or permanently in, for example, a tent, a car, a cabin or a hotel.
According to official statistics, there were 198 million households in the European Union in 2022, so there are at least that many homes in the EU.
By combining the census data of different countries, it is estimated that there were 2.1 billion households in the whole world in 2020.
The number of homes is probably somewhat higher than this, depending on what we count as a home. In the end, everyone decides for themselves what place they consider their home.
Mika Ronkainen
Chief Actuary
Statistics Finland