UN DESA Population Division · One-Person Households
One-person households by country
What share of households in each country is one person living alone?
Of the 146 countries compared in the 2026 edition, Finland had the highest reading, 45.34%, and Afghanistan had the lowest reading, 0.14%. In the middle country the figure was 14.36%. 43 readings from before 2016 are listed but not compared.
Share
Part ofPeople & Population
One-person households · the 2026 edition
Context statistic
Highest of 146Finland
45.34%01the 2026 edition · values only
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 146 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.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Lowest in the 2026 edition
Afghanistan0.14%
Iraq1.01%
Yemen1.40%
This statistic has no better end: the two ends describe size, not success.
02Every measured country
One-person households 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.
- 0.14–6.36%
- 6.42–11.11%
- 11.53–18.99%
- 19.70–28.59%
- 28.88–45.34%
- Hatched: a reading from before 2016, listed but not compared (43)
- No reading in the 2026 edition
- Europe
34.00%
the middle country, of 31 measured · 49 members
Finland45.34%
Kosovo3.32%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
21.14%
the middle country, of 25 measured · 48 members
Cayman Islands34.60%
Haiti9.43%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
9.69%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 55 members
Eswatini29.67%
Algeria1.61%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
8.51%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
Japan37.97%Afghanistan0.14%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
8.05%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 21 members
Australia22.83%
Kiribati3.71%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
37.69%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany43.14%
Luxembourg28.88%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
35.81%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
Russia41.82%
Poland23.44%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Northern Europe
32.61%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 13 members
Finland45.34%
Ireland23.14%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Europe
26.98%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 17 members
Italy36.77%Kosovo3.32%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Caribbean
26.55%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 24 members
Cayman Islands34.60%Haiti9.43%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Eastern Asia
22.81%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Japan37.97%
Macau15.13%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- South America
16.67%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Argentina24.55%
Paraguay10.39%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Middle Africa
13.45%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Gabon22.50%
Chad5.43%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Central America
12.19%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Panama18.99%
Honduras10.37%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Eastern Africa
9.59%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Kenya20.49%
Comoros5.59%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Asia
8.56%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 19 members
Saudi Arabia26.09%Iraq1.01%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Western Africa
8.09%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 16 members
Ghana24.65%
Niger2.39%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
7.88%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 11 members
Thailand25.68%
Laos4.05%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central Asia
4.88%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan23.64%
Tajikistan2.39%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Southern Asia
4.49%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Iran8.48%Afghanistan0.14%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia22.83%
New Zealand21.85%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Vanuatu.
Vanuatu12.65%
Fiji7.95%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Nauru.
Nauru8.14%Kiribati3.71%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Morocco11.10%Algeria1.61%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
3 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, United States.
Bermuda34.09%
United States28.00%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
French Polynesia17.55%
Samoa4.40%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa.
Eswatini29.67%
South Africa26.06%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
146 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 14.36%; a quarter are above 25.97%, and a quarter below 7.12%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 189 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. It is a share of households, not of people. Where four households in ten hold one person, far fewer than four people in ten live alone, because every other household holds several. Neither end is better: living alone follows ageing, income, housing and custom, and can mean independence as easily as isolation.
Showing 25 of 189 countries
Values for the 2026 edition.
05In this edition
One-person households in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
45.34%
Households with exactly one member (% of households)
Lowest reading
0.14%
Households with exactly one member (% of households)
06The measure
About one-person households
This is the share of households with only one member — the standard measure of living alone. It marks one of the sharpest differences between societies: in parts of Northern Europe living alone is common, while in much of South Asia and parts of the Middle East hardly anyone does.
What the number is: Households with exactly one member (% of households).
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 one-person households is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Women's Empowerment IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women · 91 countries in commonρ 0.84
- Account Ownership at a Financial InstitutionKeyWorld Bank Group · 108 countries in commonρ 0.80
- Account Ownership Among WomenWorld Bank Group · 108 countries in commonρ 0.79
Moves against
Where one-person households is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Average Household SizeUN DESA Population Division · 140 countries in commonρ −0.91
- Social Institutions and Gender IndexKeyOECD · 109 countries in commonρ −0.70
- Exclusion by Socio-Economic GroupV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 126 countries in commonρ −0.69
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 346 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
One-person households: questions and answers
Which country has the highest one-person households?
Finland, at 45.34%, among the 146 countries compared in the 2026 edition.
Which country has the lowest one-person households?
Afghanistan, at 0.14%, among the 146 countries compared in the 2026 edition.
How many countries does the One-Person Households cover?
146 in the 2026 edition, and 189 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average one-person households?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 146 compared in the 2026 edition, the figure was 14.36%.
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 One-Person Households 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 — the households-by-size table, which the Division's own dashboard draws. Where a country has two sources in its newest year, the row is the one that dashboard shows. 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
One-Person Households — UN DESA Population Division
From the UN Population Division's Database on Household Size and Composition — the households-by-size table, which the Division's own dashboard draws. Where a country has two sources in its newest year, the row is the one that dashboard shows.
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). One-person households by country: One-Person Households, data from UN DESA Population Division. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/one-person-households