Sound insulation is measured indirectly in many public datasets: people report whether noise is a household problem, while regulators specify acoustic performance for building elements. The figures below distinguish those perceptions from modeled transport exposure, WHO health guidance and England-specific construction standards.
Key Sound Insulation Statistics
The most useful headline figures span household experience, transport noise, sound levels and building standards:
- In 2023, 18.2% of the EU population reported neighbour or street noise as a household problem.
- In 2023, 21.1% of EU people at risk of poverty reported neighbour or street noise as a household problem.
- In 2023, 24.3% of EU city residents reported household noise, compared with 10.5% of rural residents.
- In 2023, 16.9% of EU residents in towns and suburbs reported household noise.
- Malta recorded 31.3% reporting neighbour or street noise in 2023, the highest national share cited.
- Luxembourg cities recorded 42.4% reporting household noise in 2023.
- More than 20% of Europeans were exposed to harmful transport-noise levels in the 2022 reporting round.
- More than 30% of Europeans exceeded stricter WHO-based transport-noise recommendations in the 2022 reporting assessment.
- Road traffic exposed an estimated 92 million Europeans above the END 55 dB Lden threshold in the 2022 reporting round.
- Rail traffic affected an estimated 18 million Europeans under the END day-evening-night assessment.
- Aircraft noise affected an estimated 2.6 million Europeans under the END day-evening-night assessment.
- Transport noise contributed to an estimated 73,000 premature deaths annually in Europe.
- Transport noise was associated with 49,000 new cardiovascular disease cases annually in Europe.
- Transport noise was associated with 23,000 type 2 diabetes cases annually in Europe.
- Transport noise caused an estimated 1.5 million lost healthy life years annually in Europe.
- The annual economic cost of transport noise was estimated at at least EUR 100 billion, or about 0.6% of regional GDP.
- WHO gives 40 hours per week as safe listening time at an average 80 dB.
- England’s October 2024 Approved Document E sets 45 dB as the minimum airborne insulation value for walls in purpose-built dwellings.
- England’s October 2024 Approved Document E sets 62 dB as the maximum impact-sound value for floors and stairs in purpose-built dwellings.
Contents
- Household noise and sound insulation statistics
- Sound insulation data by city, suburb and rural setting
- Transport-noise exposure statistics and trends
- Sound levels and safe listening time statistics
- Sound insulation standards and measured building performance
Household Noise and Sound Insulation Statistics
Eurostat’s 2023 EU-SILC results measure whether noise from neighbours or the street was a problem for a household. This is a self-reported perception, not a direct test of airborne or impact sound transmission.
The EU share was 18.2% in 2023, down from 20.6% in 2010. Eurostat reports the change as a 2.4-percentage-point decline over 2010–2023. Eurostat, “Quality of life indicators – natural and living environment”
| EU household-noise measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| All population | 2010 | 20.6% |
| All population | 2023 | 18.2% |
| People at risk of poverty | 2023 | 21.1% |
| Difference by poverty status | 2023 | 3.5 percentage points |
The poverty comparison uses the EU-SILC definition of being below the national 60% median-equivalised-income threshold. In 2023, people at risk of poverty were 3.5 percentage points more likely to report household noise than people not at risk.
The gap varied by country: it reached 14.2 percentage points in Finland, 11.9 points in the Netherlands and 10.5 points in Slovakia. Eight EU countries reported no higher noise share among people at risk of poverty than among those not at risk, so the relationship is not uniform across the EU.
Malta had the highest national share among the cited comparisons, at 31.3% in 2023. These results describe perceived household exposure and should not be read as estimates of insulation adoption.
Sound Insulation Data by City, Suburb and Rural Setting
Settlement type is one of the clearest differences in the 2023 EU-SILC results. 24.3% of city residents reported neighbour or street noise, compared with 16.9% of residents in towns and suburbs and 10.5% of rural residents.
| Settlement type | EU share reporting household noise, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Cities | 24.3% |
| Towns and suburbs | 16.9% |
| Rural areas | 10.5% |
Country comparisons show why an EU average should not be treated as a local building estimate. City noise shares were 42.4% in Luxembourg, 36.7% in Malta, 33.7% in the Netherlands and 32.4% in Portugal, while the lowest listed city share was 8.5% in Croatia.
The city-to-rural difference was 28.3 percentage points in Greece in 2023, 22.8 points in Luxembourg, 18.5 points in the Netherlands and 18.0 points in France. The figures are self-reported perceptions and include the surrounding noise environment, not only the quality of walls, floors or windows. Eurostat, “Quality of life indicators – natural and living environment”
Transport-Noise Exposure Statistics and Trends
The European Environment Agency’s “Environmental noise in Europe 2025” summarizes estimates based on Environmental Noise Directive reporting for the 2022 reporting round. These are modeled or reporting-based estimates, not a direct count of homes that installed sound insulation.
| Transport source | Estimated people exposed, Europe, 2022 reporting round | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Road traffic | 92 million | Above END 55 dB Lden |
| Rail traffic | 18 million | END day-evening-night assessment |
| Aircraft | 2.6 million | END day-evening-night assessment |
More than 20% of Europeans were exposed to harmful transport-noise levels under the latest END reporting. The share rises to more than 30% when assessed against stricter WHO recommendations; the two percentages use different threshold bases.
The EEA estimates that almost 16.9 million Europeans experience long-term annoyance and approximately 4.6 million experience severe sleep disturbance from transport noise. Its health-burden estimates include 73,000 premature deaths, around 49,000 new cardiovascular disease cases, around 23,000 type 2 diabetes cases and 1.5 million lost healthy life years annually in Europe.
Other modeled outcomes include reading difficulties in more than 500,000 children, behavioural issues in about 115,000 children and approximately 223,000 cases of overweight children linked to high transport-noise levels. The EEA page records a March 2026 corrigendum affecting several health estimates, so these figures should be treated as the corrected online estimates rather than as direct observations.
The annual economic cost is estimated at at least EUR 100 billion, about 0.6% of regional GDP. People highly annoyed by transport noise declined an estimated 3% between 2017 and 2022, while the EU target is a 30% reduction in people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 2030 versus 2017; that target is a policy forecast, not an observed outcome. EEA, “Environmental noise in Europe 2025”
Sound Levels and Safe Listening Time Statistics
WHO sound examples help put everyday sources on a decibel scale, but they are approximate illustrations rather than sound-insulation ratings. The examples range from a shouted conversation at about 90 dB to firecrackers at about 150 dB.
| WHO example | Approximate level |
|---|---|
| Shouted conversation | 90 dB |
| Motorcycle | 95 dB |
| Hair dryer | 100 dB |
| Car horn at 5 metres | 105 dB |
| Shouting in the ear | 110 dB |
| Standing near a siren | 120 dB |
| Jackhammer | 130 dB |
| Airplane taking off | 140 dB |
| Firecrackers | 150 dB |
WHO’s safe-listening guidance also shows how permitted weekly exposure falls as average sound level rises: 40 hours at 80 dB, 12 hours 30 minutes at 85 dB, 4 hours at 90 dB, 1 hour 15 minutes at 95 dB and 20 minutes at 100 dB.
At higher levels, the guidance gives 8 minutes at 105 dB, 2.5 minutes at 110 dB, 12 seconds at 120 dB and less than 1 second at 130 dB per seven days. These are health guidance values, not limits for walls, floors or windows, and they should not be substituted for DnT,w + Ctr or L’nT,w measurements. WHO, “Deafness and hearing loss: Safe listening”
Sound Insulation Standards and Measured Building Performance
England’s Approved Document E, October 2024 edition, specifies performance standards for particular residential building situations. The values below are regulatory guidance for England, not observed adoption rates or global norms.
| England residential situation | Airborne sound insulation | Impact sound |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose-built dwelling-houses and flats | 45 dB minimum for walls; 45 dB minimum for floors and stairs | 62 dB maximum for floors and stairs |
| Dwellings formed by material change of use | 43 dB minimum for walls; 43 dB minimum for floors and stairs | 64 dB maximum for floors and stairs |
| Purpose-built rooms for residential purposes | 43 dB minimum for walls | 62 dB maximum for floors and stairs |
The airborne values use DnT,w + Ctr, while impact sound uses L’nT,w. They are distinct measurements: higher airborne insulation values indicate the specified minimum performance, whereas lower impact-sound values indicate better performance.
For purpose-built dwelling-houses and flats, the October 2024 document sets 45 dB minimum airborne insulation for both walls and floors or stairs, with a 62 dB maximum impact-sound value for floors and stairs. For material-change-of-use dwellings, the corresponding figures are 43 dB minimum airborne insulation and 64 dB maximum impact sound.
For purpose-built rooms for residential purposes, the minimum airborne wall value is 43 dB and the maximum impact-sound value for floors and stairs is 62 dB. These standards describe required performance in the named English building contexts; they do not measure how many buildings comply or how widely insulation products are used. UK Government, “The Merged Approved Documents, October 2024: Approved Document E resistance to the passage of sound”