**Households with One Person Exceed 36.1%, Reaching a Record High**
Annual Income 34.23 Million Won, Home Ownership at 32%
“Often Lonely” 48.9%… Still the Poorest Structure in Reality
[Herald Economy = Reporter Kim Yong-hun] For the first time, single-person households have exceeded 36% of all households, becoming a “mainstream household.”
However, the quality of life indices indicate that they remain in the most vulnerable segment despite this growth. Their income is about half that of the overall average, only one in three owns a home, and the loneliness rate is over 11 percentage points higher than the average.
According to the “2025 Statistics on Single-Person Households,” released by the National Data Office on the 9th, as of 2024, the number of single-person households reached 8.045 million, increasing by 216,000 from the previous year and accounting for 36.1% of all households. This surpasses two-person households (29.0%), three-person households (18.8%), and households with four or more members (16.0%).
**Youth Are Male, Elderly Are Female… Generational Concentration Also Extreme**
By age group, those aged 70 and over accounted for the largest portion at 19.8%, followed by those under 29 (17.8%), those in their 60s (17.6%), and those in their 30s (17.4%).
In terms of gender composition, the overall size is similar, but the structure is entirely different. Male single-person households have a higher proportion of young people (39.6%), while females are predominantly in the 60-plus age group, comprising 47.7%. This has solidified the dual structure of “young men, elderly women.”
Regionally, concentration is also evident. A notable 42.7% are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi), with Seoul (39.9%), Daejeon (39.8%), and Gangwon (39.4%) nearing 40% in the proportion of single-person households.
The issue lies in the “economic reality of single-person households becoming mainstream.” As of 2024, the annual average income of single-person households is 34.23 million won, only 46.1% of the overall household average of 74.27 million won. Their average monthly consumption expenditure is 1.689 million won, less than 60% of the total households.
Their consumption structure mainly focuses on essential expenses. Spending on housing, utilities, and fuel (18.4%), and food and lodging (18.2%) are ranked first and second, with limited leisure and savings capacity.
**Only 32% of Single-Person Households Own a House… Youths Essentially “Houseless”**
The home ownership rate stands at 32.0%, nearly 25 percentage points lower than that of all households (56.9%).
Particularly, the home ownership rate of single-person households aged under 29 is only 5.0%, in stark contrast to the 50.9% of the elderly aged 70 and over. Consequently, young single-person households are effectively trapped in a “houseless structure.”
Their living conditions are also unstable, with 11.6% of single-person households residing in non-residential places such as officetels or lodging establishments. The proportion living in detached houses (39.0%) and apartments (35.9%) is skewed compared to all households.
As of October 2024, the number of employed single-person households was 5.1 million, an increase of 426,000 from the previous year. However, their average weekly working hours were 38.2 hours, less than the average for all employed individuals (38.9 hours).
Industry-wise, there is a pronounced tendency towards the service industry, with a high proportion of simple labor and unstable jobs.
Economic vulnerability is directly linked to social isolation. In 2025, the overall satisfaction with personal relationships among single-person households was 51.1%, lower than the total population.
Particularly, the response rate saying “often or sometimes lonely” was 48.9%, 10.7 percentage points higher than the total average (38.2%).
Responses stating they have someone to rely on when sick (68.9%), in need of money (45.6%), or when feeling depressed (73.5%) were all lower than the overall average, indicating a weakness in crisis response capabilities.