4 out of 10 People Live Alone on 'I Live Alone'... Reasons Vary

Ministry of the Interior and Safety 'Resident Registration Population and Other Status' Survey Results
Single-Person Household Proportion 42%... Up from 34% Last Year

Near Chung-Ang University in Dongjak-gu, a flyer related to boarding is posted on the neighborhood bulletin board. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The proportion of unmarried singles and elderly living alone has been steadily increasing, with one-person households now accounting for over 40% of all resident registration households.

On the 4th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) released the 'Other Status of Resident Registration Population.' According to the data, as of December last year, the total number of resident-registered households was 23,914,851. Among these, one-person households accounted for 9,935,600. This is an increase of 211,344 households compared to 9,724,256 in December 2022. The total number of households increased by 209,370 (0.9%) from 23,705,814 in December 2022. This indicates that the increase in total households was led by one-person households.

The share of one-person households reached 42%, meaning that more than 4 out of every 10 households were single-person households. This figure is significantly higher than the 34% estimated by Statistics Korea for single-person households last year. In terms of household count, even if people do not live together, they are counted as one household if they share living expenses, but households are distinguished based on resident registration addresses.

For example, a parent and one child constitute a three-person household, but if they live apart as a weekend couple and the child lives at a different address for reasons such as schooling, they would be counted as three one-person households. Therefore, the proportion of one-person households is considered more accurate than the proportion of single-person households when measuring how many people actually live alone. Two-person households increased slightly from 5,744,486 in 2022 to 5,860,673 last year, and three-person households rose from 4,010,553 to 4,029,815.

On the other hand, four-person households decreased from 3,250,715 to 3,148,835, and five-person households dropped from 776,259 to 743,232, showing a general decline in 'multi-person households.' During the same period, the average number of people per household slightly decreased from 2.17 to 2.15. By region, households in Gyeonggi-do (5,978,724) and Seoul (4,469,417) accounted for 44% of the total households residing in the metropolitan area. The region with the fewest households was Sejong City, with 160,835.

An MOIS official stated, "As the number of unmarried singles and elderly living alone continues to rise, the proportion of one-person households has surpassed 40%," adding, "The government also needs to consider policy responses to the increase in one-person households."

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