UN DESA Population Division · Average Household Size
Household size by country
How many people share a household, on average, in each country?
Of the 140 countries compared in the 2026 edition, Mali had the highest reading, 8.93, and Finland had the lowest reading, 1.96. In the middle country the figure was 3.59. 41 readings from before 2016 are listed but not compared.
Share
Part ofPeople & Population
Household size · the 2026 edition
Context statistic
Highest of 140Mali
8.9301the 2026 edition · values only
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 140 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.
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02Every measured country
Household size on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.
- 1.96–2.53
- 2.55–3.25
- 3.27–3.97
- 4.02–4.83
- 4.90–8.93
- Hatched: a reading from before 2016, listed but not compared (41)
- No reading in the 2026 edition
- Oceania
5.30
the middle country, of 9 measured · 21 members
Samoa6.60
Australia2.55Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Africa
4.61
the middle country, of 40 measured · 55 members
Mali8.93
Lesotho2.99Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
3.99
the middle country, of 36 measured · 52 members
Afghanistan8.26
Japan2.21Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
2.93
the middle country, of 24 measured · 48 members
Haiti4.29
Bermuda2.26Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Europe
2.35
the middle country, of 31 measured · 49 members
Kosovo4.90
Finland1.96Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Africa
5.29
the middle country, of 13 measured · 16 members
Mali8.93
Ghana3.55Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
4.92
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Chad5.97
Gabon3.92Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Central Asia
4.79
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Tajikistan5.64
Kazakhstan3.03Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Africa
4.50
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Comoros5.22
Mauritius3.27Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Southern Asia
4.38
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Afghanistan8.26
Nepal3.82Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
4.12
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
Timor-Leste5.27
Thailand2.65Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
3.78
the middle country, of 11 measured · 19 members
Yemen6.55
Cyprus2.56Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Central America
3.59
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Honduras3.87
Costa Rica3.21Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- South America
3.36
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Paraguay3.87
Chile2.78Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
2.80
the middle country, of 8 measured · 24 members
Haiti4.292 share 2.37
Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Eastern Asia
2.67
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Mongolia3.43Japan2.21Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Southern Europe
2.55
the middle country, of 11 measured · 17 members
Kosovo4.90
Italy2.24Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Northern Europe
2.29
the middle country, of 6 measured · 13 members
Ireland2.74Finland1.96Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
2.21
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
Slovakia3.14
Czechia2.15Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Europe
2.19
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Luxembourg2.53
Germany2.04Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand2.60Australia2.55Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Vanuatu.
Fiji4.22
Vanuatu3.80Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Nauru.
Nauru6.26
Kiribati5.90Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Algeria4.94
Tunisia3.63Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
3 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, United States.
United States2.49Bermuda2.26Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Samoa6.60
Tonga5.30Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa.
Eswatini3.66Lesotho2.99Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
140 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 3.59; a quarter are above 4.69, and a quarter below 2.65. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 181 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Neither end is better. A large average usually goes with young populations and extended families under one roof; a small one with ageing populations and many people living alone. Readings come from different years and different kinds of source — a census counts every household, a survey samples them — so a gap of a tenth of a person between two countries means little.
Showing 25 of 181 countries
Values for the 2026 edition.
05In this edition
Household size in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
8.93
Average number of usual residents per household (people)
Lowest reading
1.96
Average number of usual residents per household (people)
06The measure
About household size
Average household size is the number of people who usually live in one household, averaged over every household in a country. It is one of the plainest measures of how family life is organised — whether grandparents, adult children and other relatives share a home, or people live in couples and alone.
What the number is: Average number of usual residents per household (people).
07Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under People & Population, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where household size is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Population Under Age 15UN DESA Population Division · 140 countries in commonρ 0.85
- Crude Birth RateUN DESA Population Division · 140 countries in commonρ 0.85
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 124 countries in commonρ 0.83
Moves against
Where household size is higher, these tend to be lower.
- One-Person HouseholdsUN DESA Population Division · 140 countries in commonρ −0.91
- Women's Empowerment IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women · 89 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Population Aged 65 and OverUN DESA Population Division · 140 countries in commonρ −0.88
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 342 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
09Questions
Household size: questions and answers
Which country has the highest household size?
Mali, at 8.93, among the 140 countries compared in the 2026 edition.
Which country has the lowest household size?
Finland, at 1.96, among the 140 countries compared in the 2026 edition.
How many countries does the Average Household Size cover?
140 in the 2026 edition, and 181 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average household size?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 140 compared in the 2026 edition, the figure was 3.59.
Is this UN DESA Population Division’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. UN DESA Population Division publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Average Household Size published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2026.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UN DESA Population Division, under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From the UN Population Division's Database on Household Size and Composition, which applies one estimation method to censuses, household surveys and national tabulations. Where a country has two sources in its newest year, the row is the one the Division's own country dashboard shows. One impossible value at source, and two surveys covering only part of Somalia, are set aside. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Average Household Size — UN DESA Population Division
From the UN Population Division's Database on Household Size and Composition, which applies one estimation method to censuses, household surveys and national tabulations. Where a country has two sources in its newest year, the row is the one the Division's own country dashboard shows. One impossible value at source, and two surveys covering only part of Somalia, are set aside.
Newest edition
Report year 2026Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: United Nations (2026). Database on Household Size and Composition 2026. UN DESA/POP/2026/DC/NO.15.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: UN DESA Population Division publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2016 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Household size by country: Average Household Size, data from UN DESA Population Division. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/household-size