In Spain, increasingly more other people reside on my own at house, in single-person families. They grew from 5 million in January 2021 to greater than 5.5 million in July 2025, in line with the Nationwide Institute of Statistics. This represents an building up of 10.8% between the 2 dates. In the meantime, families with two other people greater by means of 9%, the ones with 3 slightly greater by means of 1.6%, and families with 4 or extra other people lowered very moderately (-0.3%).
In July 2025, Spain had 19.6 million properties. Of this general quantity, 29% have been two other people; 28%, unbiased marketers; 23%, 4 or extra other people and 20%, 3. Regardless of their transparent building up, single-person families aren’t the commonest way of living in Spain, however they might be within the coming years: even supposing it used to be extra commonplace to reside in two-person families in July 2025, there have been simplest 130,520 extra of this sort in comparison to single-person families. And this distinction used to be diminished in comparison to January 2021.
Variations by means of group
We’re increasingly more on my own at house, however there are distinct variations between self sustaining communities. The information display two traits. All through the Mediterranean basin, within the Balearic Islands and in Madrid, two-person families predominate over one-person families. 26.7% of the inhabitants lives in unmarried families within the space, each and every fourth user.
In the meantime, in essentially the most rural spaces of northern Spain, the 2 Castiles, Extremadura and the Canary Islands, single-person families predominate over two-person families. On this case, 31.2% of other people reside within the first (each and every 3rd).
INE.
There are a number of the reason why we are living on my own at house increasingly more. The primary pertains to the age and gender construction of the inhabitants and existence expectancy. Spain is a rustic with a definite level of getting older. As of 2022, greater than 20% of the inhabitants is over 65 years outdated. Additionally, girls’s existence expectancy is longer than males’s: 86.3 years for ladies, in comparison to 81.1 years for males, in 2025.
Widowed girls and separated {couples}
Because of this, many of us residing on my own are girls, more than likely widows, who get started residing in a single-person family after dropping their spouse. Those instances purpose fear after they result in undesirable loneliness.
There are different causes associated with the diversification of sorts of coexistence. There are increasingly more divorces and separations, in addition to {couples} who reside in combination however one at a time, i.e. “everyone in their own home”.
The formation of families with one user is then matter to 2 prerequisites. The primary issue is that the sons or daughters of this new or outdated couple now not reside with their folks. Every other issue that determines the formation of this sort of family is the life of enough budget to hide the prices of 2 properties.
Age, gender, existence cycle and price of housing, along with converting the lifestyle in combination, decide whether or not or no longer one-member families will probably be shaped. Those elements give an explanation for the 2 up to now noticed traits.
Getting old inhabitants and decrease housing costs
The place single-member families are the commonest way of living, the inhabitants is older and the price of housing is decrease. Even supposing the similar phenomena would should be analyzed with micro knowledge, that is what we follow within the northern spaces of Spain, the 2 Castiles and Extremadura.
On the regional degree, the proportion of other people over 65 is without doubt one of the best possible within the nation. It levels between 20.1% in Castilla L. a. Mancha and 28.4% in Asturias. The relationship between a better percentage of single-member families and decrease housing costs may be showed.
In keeping with the Observatory for Inexpensive Housing of the non-governmental group Provivienda, in all of the northern areas, the 2 Castiles, Extremadura and the Canary Islands, condo costs reached a most of 500 euros in 2022, a number of the lowest in Spain.
As for the acquisition costs of homes, in 2025, in line with the similar observatory, they have been decrease within the discussed areas, the place single-member families be triumphant.
And our Ecu neighbors?
Even supposing it’s true that there’s increasingly single-person families in Spain, their percentage does no longer succeed in the Ecu moderate. In 2024, 35% of families within the Ecu Union have been headed by means of a unmarried user, in comparison to 28% in Spain. Since 2015, the craze of this sort of family has been expanding in all international locations, even supposing there are 4 exceptions: Slovakia – the place the proportion of single-person families lowered considerably between 2015 and 2024 – Hungary, Eire and Poland, the place the lower used to be minimum, in line with Eurostat.
Eurostat.
It’s true that we’re increasingly more residing on my own at house in Spain, even supposing there are two key elements which can be slowing this pattern. The primary is the price of housing, which has risen above source of revenue for a number of years. The second one is the life of a “familist” social regime, by which the circle of relatives and, by means of extension, native enhance networks supply answers and sources the place the state and the marketplace don’t succeed in.
So long as we’ve this huge community of circle of relatives and community enhance, residing on my own at house would possibly not essentially be synonymous with being on my own.
