In 2025, 19.5% of households lived in homes where some energy efficiency renovation had been carried out in the last five years, such as improvements in thermal insulation or in the heating system of the home or building.
In 34.4% of cases, no improvements had been made, despite being considered necessary, and in the remaining 46.0%, no improvements had been made, nor were not considered necessary.
Among low-income households, the percentage that reported needing to improve the energy efficiency of their home was 41.0%, compared to 25.3% in higher-income households.
This difference was more pronounced in older homes. Thus, 51.2% of low-income households living in homes built before 1960 needed improvements, compared to 27.5% among those with higher incomes.
Among households living in their own homes, the main reason for not undertaking efficiency improvements in their home or building was its price (76.2% indicated that "it is very expensive"). In contrast, “administrative problems” and “difficulty in finding professionals” were in the minority, with 2.6% and 1.8% of households, respectively.
Percentages
The most used means of transport by people aged 16 and over in 2025 was the car (used by 53.5%). Behind them were public transport (25.4%), walking (16.3%), motorcycles (2.1%) and bicycles (1.8%).
Car use was higher in smaller municipalities. Thus, it was the most used means by 73.5% of people who lived in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, compared to 29.6% of residents in larger municipalities. With public transport, the opposite occurred. For 48.8% of people it was the main means of transportation in the most populated municipalities, compared to 10.9% in smaller ones.
By age, the most frequent mode of transport among young people aged 16 to 29 was public transport (43.4%). In the other age groups, the car stood out as the most used mode of transport, especially among people aged 30 to 64.
Percentages
Regarding mobility, 68.3% of people aged 16 to 65 who worked or studied could reach their workplace or place of study in less than an hour using public transport, bicycle or on foot.
This percentage fell to 60.3% in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, and rose to 74.8% in those with more than 500,000.
The proportion of households without a vehicle was projected to decrease in 2025 as income levels rise. Nearly four out of ten households in the lowest income quintile did not own a vehicle, compared to one out of ten in the highest income quintile.
The differences were also due to the age of the vehicle. Lower-income households were more likely to own vehicles older than 10 years, while higher-income households had newer vehicles and, more often, owned more than one.
Percentages
In 2025, 64.6% of households lived less than 400 meters from a public green space.
By income level, 62.5% of the lowest-income households had a public green space within that distance, compared to 67.1% of the highest-income households.
By autonomous community, the highest percentages were observed in Comunidad Foral de Navarra (77.5%), Castilla y León (75.9%) and La Rioja (74.2%).
The lowest were found in Canarias (49.9%), Illes Balears (57.7%) and Andalucía (61.2%).
Percentages
79.0% of households stated they "always or almost always" recycle plastic bottles by 2025, while 9.2% stated they "never or almost never" do so.
By autonomous communities, the highest percentages of households that recycled were in the Comunidad Foral de Navarra (94.7%), Illes Balears (88.5%) and País Vasco (87.7%). And the lowest were in the Region of Murcia (65.9%), Extremadura (69.6%) and Castilla-La Mancha (71.1%).
Percentages
The data published today are final. All results of this operation are available on INEBase.
The Living Conditions Survey (LCS) is an annual statistical operation aimed at households which is conducted in all European Union countries. It is a harmonised statistic supported by Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 which establishes a common framework for European statistics related to people and households, based on individual data collected from samples.
The Living Conditions Survey (LCS) includes various modules each year, harmonised at the European level, for an in-depth study of different aspects of the life of households. The 2025 edition included for the first time a module on energy and the environment.
The 2025 LCS was carried out by the National Statistics Institute (INE) in collaboration with the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (IDESCAT) within the scope of the autonomous community.
More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at the INE and the Code of Best Practices.
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