Number of rough sleepers in London 2024, by age

In 2023/24, 3,645 people who were seen to be sleeping rough in London were aged between 36 and 45 years old, the most common age group in that year. In this same year, 1,126 people seen to be homeless were aged between 18 and 24, and a further 1,380 were aged over 55. By far, the least common age group for rough sleeping were those aged under 18, with just 13 rough sleepers in this reporting year. 

Demographics of London's homeless

Overall, there were 10,053 people reported to be sleeping rough in London in 2022/23. Although this was fewer than in 2020/21, when the number of people sleeping rough reached 11,018, it was still much higher than in 2010/11, when this figure was 3,975 people. As of the most recent reporting year, 2,050 of London's rough sleepers were in the borough of Westminster, the most of any London borough. In terms of gender, the majority of rough sleepers in 2022/23 were male, with 8,172 men seen to be sleeping rough, compared with 1,642 women, and eleven non-binary people. 

Homelessness in the U.S.

Homelessness is also an important social issue in several other countries. In the United States, for example, there were estimated to be approximately 582,562 people experiencing homelessness in 2022. This was a slight increase on the previous year, but a decrease when compared to 2007, when around 672,258 people were homeless. When looking at U.S. states, California had the highest homelessness rate, at 43.7 individuals per 10,000 population, followed by Vermont at 43.1