'I Live Alone' Surpasses 7.5 Million Single-Person Households for the First Time

2022 Population and Housing Census Results
7.5 Million Single-Person Households, 4.7% Increase
Solo Living Among People in Their 80s Up 12.1%

Last year, the number of single-person households living alone surpassed 7.5 million for the first time. The proportion of single-person households among all households approached 35%, and the increase was the largest compared to kin and non-kin households.

According to the "2022 Population and Housing Census Results" announced by Statistics Korea on the 27th, as of November 1st last year, the total number of households was 22.383 million, an increase of 1.6% (360,000 households) compared to the previous year. During the same period, the number of single-person households rose by 4.7% to 7.502 million, marking a record high. Although the growth rate of single-person households decreased by 3.4 percentage points from the previous year, it was 3.1 percentage points higher than the overall household growth rate. Single-person households have increased significantly over the past four years, with growth rates of 5.1% in 2019, 8.1% in 2020, and 7.9% in 2021.

The proportion of single-person households among general households reached a record high of 34.5% in just one year. In 2021, the rate was 33.4%. By age group, those aged 20 and under accounted for the highest proportion at 19.2%, followed by those in their 30s (17.3%) and 60s (16.7%). Among men, the highest proportion was in their 30s (22.0%), while among women, it was those aged 20 and under (18.9%).

By region, Daejeon had the highest proportion of single-person households at 38.5%, while Ulsan and Gyeonggi had the lowest at 30.2%. In rural areas, the proportion of single-person households was 38.6%, followed by urban neighborhoods (dong) at 34.1%, and towns (eup) at 33.1%. Compared to the previous year, Sejong saw the largest increase of 1.4 percentage points, followed by Seoul and Busan with an increase of 1.3 percentage points.

Regarding the types of residences for single-person households, apartments accounted for 34.0%, followed by multi-family detached houses at 21.4%. Compared to the previous year, the growth rate of single-person households living in apartments was 7.6%, and residences other than houses increased by 6.4%. Compared to all general households, single-person households had a higher proportion living in multi-family detached houses, commercial-residential detached houses, and non-house residences, while the proportion living in apartments was relatively lower.

Notably, the number of single-person households aged 60 and over has been increasing annually. Last year, the growth rate of single-person households in their 60s was 6.5% compared to the previous year, those in their 70s increased by 4.9%, and the growth rate for those in their 80s was a remarkable 12.1%, the largest increase among all age groups.

Kang Jeong-hee, an official at the Population Census Division of the Survey Management Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, "Single-person households mainly consist of people in their 20s and 30s due to employment and education, but recently, the number of elderly single-person households aged 60 and above has been on the rise. This is because as employment among the elderly increases, the number of households living alone has also increased, and this trend is expected to continue for the time being."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.