Half a million people aged 30 to 64 live alone in Finland

The number of persons living alone increased further in the country and 33,000 more were living alone in 2020 than in the year before, according to Statistics Finland.

There are already over half a million working-age persons aged 30 to 64 living alone and they are the largest age group living alone.

Over the past five years, the number of persons living alone has increased every year in nearly all age groups. Living alone has grown more common especially among those aged under 30.

In 2020, the number of persons of working age aged 30 to 64 living alone was around 545,000, the number having grown by 245,000 since 1990.

The number of persons aged 30 to 64 living alone grew steadily from 1990 until the 2010s, when the growth stabilised for a few years. In recent years, the number of people aged 30 to 64 living alone has turned upwards again, which is partly explained by the size of the age cohort born in the 1980s. The share of persons living alone among the 30 to 64 age group has grown fairly steadily and in 2020 they numbered more than one in five.

The number of persons aged under 30 living alone has more than doubled since 1990 from 100,000 to 253,000. The share of persons living alone among the dwelling population aged under 30 has grown most in relative terms in recent years. The growth is partly explained by the student financial aid and housing allowance reform in 2017.

The number of persons aged 65 or over living alone has grown over the same period by 210,000 persons, their number being 457,000 in 2020.

Although the number of aged persons living alone is growing, the share of people living alone among the dwelling population aged 65 or over has been falling slightly for good ten years. This is particularly explained by the lengthened life expectancy of men, which means that people become widowed later and later.

The biggest age groups living alone are those aged 75 and older, and those aged 65 to 74.