Percentage of one-person households by country

Number of one-person households as a share of the total number of households. Estimates combine multiple sources, including cross-country surveys and census data.

Countries reporting

Highest

45.8%

Norway

Lowest

1.7%

Bangladesh

Median

22.7%

Years covered

1960–2018

Data points

726

What the numbers show

Percentage of one-person households is currently reported for 64 countries. The highest value is 45.8% in Norway; the lowest is 1.7% in Bangladesh.

The median across all reporting countries is 22.7%, and the mean is 21.9%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 26.

Over the past decade 52 countries rose and 11 fell. The largest increase was in Turkey (up 135.4%), and the largest decrease in Madagascar (down 26.1%).

Percentage of one-person households: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Norway	45.8%	2018	up 11.4%	rising
2	Denmark	44.1%	2018	down 3.7%	flat
3	Finland	43.0%	2018	up 9.7%	rising
4	Sweden	42.5%	2018	up 5.7%	flat
5	Germany	41.7%	2018	up 6.6%	rising
6	Estonia	40.3%	2018	up 17.2%	rising
7	Netherlands	38.3%	2018	up 7.9%	rising
8	Switzerland	38.1%	2018	up 22.5%	rising
9	Lithuania	37.7%	2018	up 25.7%	rising
10	Austria	37.2%	2018	up 5.4%	rising
11	France	36.2%	2018	up 4.6%	rising
12	Latvia	35.0%	2018	up 23.2%	rising
13	Belgium	34.7%	2018	down 0.3%	flat
14	Japan	34.5%	2015	up 17.2%	rising
16	Bulgaria	33.3%	2018	up 81.0%	rising
17	Hungary	33.2%	2018	up 37.8%	rising
18	Italy	32.6%	2018	up 11.3%	rising
19	Iceland	31.0%	2016	up 13.1%	rising
20	United Kingdom	29.9%	2017	down 3.9%	falling
21	Slovenia	29.6%	2018	up 42.3%	rising
22	Romania	29.2%	2018	up 24.8%	rising
23	Czechia	28.7%	2018	up 15.7%	rising
24	United States	28.0%	2018	up 1.7%	rising
26	Ghana	25.9%	2014	up 24.6%	flat
27	Greece	25.7%	2018	up 27.9%	rising
28	Spain	25.5%	2018	up 14.9%	rising
29	Poland	25.0%	2018	down 1.2%	flat
30	Croatia	24.4%	2018	down 0.8%	flat
32	New Zealand	23.5%	2013	up 0.7%	rising
33	Uruguay	23.5%	2011	up 38.9%	rising
34	Portugal	23.1%	2018	up 31.2%	rising
35	Puerto Rico	23.1%	2010	up 25.2%	rising
36	Slovakia	22.3%	2017	down 9.0%	flat
36	Serbia	22.3%	2018	up 0.5%	flat
38	Kenya	21.6%	2015	up 54.4%	rising
39	Cyprus	20.8%	2018	unchanged	rising
40	Trinidad and Tobago	19.2%	2011	up 26.5%	rising
41	Turkey	15.3%	2017	up 135.4%	rising
42	Panama	14.7%	2010	up 15.1%	rising
43	Dominican Republic	14.3%	2013	up 29.8%	rising
44	Uganda	13.7%	2016	up 26.2%	rising
45	Peru	12.9%	2012	up 56.8%	rising
46	Zimbabwe	12.4%	2015	up 21.8%	falling
47	Ecuador	12.1%	2010	up 32.4%	rising
48	Brazil	12.0%	2010	up 34.4%	rising
49	Nigeria	11.5%	2015	down 1.4%	rising
50	Colombia	11.1%	2015	up 45.4%	rising
51	Mexico	10.1%	2015	up 56.6%	rising
52	Tanzania	9.6%	2015	up 9.1%	flat
53	North Macedonia	9.6%	2017	down 1.0%	flat
54	Senegal	8.4%	2016	up 58.1%	rising
55	Indonesia	8.3%	2010	up 23.7%	rising
56	Rwanda	8.2%	2015	up 24.6%	rising
57	Paraguay	8.1%	2002	up 8.9%	falling
58	India	7.7%	2009	up 16.8%	flat
59	Zambia	7.2%	2013	up 13.0%	rising
60	Burkina Faso	6.6%	2014	up 8.0%	rising
61	Egypt	6.5%	2014	up 12.4%	rising
62	Nepal	6.4%	2016	up 27.8%	rising
63	Malawi	6.4%	2015	down 23.0%	falling
64	Madagascar	5.3%	2011	down 26.1%	falling
65	Philippines	5.0%	2013	up 19.9%	rising
66	Jordan	4.4%	2012	down 4.3%	flat
67	Bangladesh	1.7%	2014	up 2.1%	rising

About this data

Indicator: Percentage of one-person households
Unit: %
Source: UN, national statistical agencies, OECD, and Deutschland in Daten (2021) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 67 places, 726 data points, 1960–2018
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Number of one-person households as a share of the total number of households. Estimates combine multiple sources, including cross-country surveys and census data.