Gyeonggi Province Single-Person Households Break Through 1.71 Million...One Out of Every Three Homes Occupied by One Person

Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] Single-person households in Gyeonggi Province account for 1.71 million households, representing 31.2% of all households in the province.

This means that one out of every three homes in Gyeonggi Province is occupied by a single person. These single-person household numbers have been setting new national records annually since 2020, according to surveys.

Gyeonggi Province announced the '2024 Gyeonggi Province Single-Person Household Statistics' on the 4th containing this content.

This data is based on six types of statistics including the Population and Housing Census announced by Statistics Korea at the end of last month, the Family Actual Conditions Survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and Gyeonggi Province's Social Survey. The single-person household status was reclassified into eight categories: △demographics and households △housing △leisure and others.

The number of single-person households in Gyeonggi Province was calculated at 1.715 million households, an increase of approximately 800,000 households compared to the previous year (1.63 million), accounting for 31.2% of all households in the province (5.5 million). The number and proportion of single-person households in Gyeonggi Province continue to show annual growth, with 21.9% of single-person households nationwide residing in Gyeonggi Province. Since 2020, the number of single-person households has surpassed Seoul and recorded first place nationally every year.

By city and county, single-person households are concentrated in the five cities with the largest populations: Suwon (10.5%), Seongnam (7.6%), Goyang (7.4%), Hwaseong (7.0%), and Yongin (6.2%). The proportion of single-person households relative to total households by city and county was highest in Yeoncheon (38.6%), Gapyeong (38.5%), and Dongducheon (37.1%), while Gwacheon (18.0%), Uiwang (24.0%), and Namyangju (25.1%) showed relatively lower proportions.

Regarding the duration of living as a single-person household, those living alone for 5 to less than 10 years accounted for the largest proportion at 30.3%, followed by 10 to less than 20 years at 26.4% and 3 to less than 5 years at 16.1%. Compared to 2020, those living alone for 5 to less than 10 years increased by 13.8 percentage points, while those for less than 1 year and 1 to less than 3 years decreased by 6.7 and 5.1 percentage points respectively, confirming a trend of lengthening single-person household lifespans.

Additionally, regarding difficulties experienced by single-person households, four out of ten households cited 'balanced meals' (44.9%) and 'handling emergencies or illness alone' (42.6%).

Single-person household living expenses were largely comprised of housing costs (30.7%), food expenses (26.5%), and medical expenses (21.0%).

Regarding leisure activities, single-person households primarily focus on TV viewing (57.2%) and rest activities (37.9%), while the proportion engaged in cultural and artistic activities (17.7%) and tourism activities (8.9%) was 2.8 percentage points and 5.8 percentage points lower respectively compared to all households in the province.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province has established the '2024 Gyeonggi Province Single-Person Household Support Implementation Plan' for single-person households in the province, investing 880.7 billion won to implement 39 projects including single-person household hospital reassurance companion services, single-person household free-subject proposal projects, single-person household residential safety checklist development and distribution, and single-person household policy participation group operations.

An Seung-man, director of the Provincial Family Policy Division, stated, "Through this statistical data analysis, we were able to identify the status and various conditions of single-person households in Gyeonggi Province," adding, "We will utilize this as basic data for establishing policies to improve the quality of life for single-person households."

Gyeonggi Province single-person household statistics can be found in the data room of the Gyeonggi Province Single-Person Household Portal (www.gg.go.kr/1ingg).