Around 17.3 million people in Germany lived alone last year. That corresponds to 20.9 percent of the population, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday in Wiesbaden. Compared to 2005, the number of people living alone rose by 22.3 percent – back then it was just under 14.2 million.
Older people are particularly likely to live alone: in the age group over 65, it was just over 34.4 percent in 2025, and among those over 85, more than one in two (55.8 percent). The share is also above average among 25- to 34-year-olds at 28.7 percent. Women live alone slightly more often than men, at 21.5 percent compared to 20.4 percent.
The larger the place of residence, the higher the proportion of people living alone. In large cities with at least 100,000 inhabitants, just over a quarter (25.9 percent) of the population lived alone in 2025, in medium-sized towns (20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants) around a fifth (20.6 percent). In small communities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, the figure was 17.2 percent.
In an EU comparison, Germany at 20.9 percent is above the average of 16.5 percent. Only in Lithuania (31.4 percent), Finland (25.8 percent), Denmark (24.3 percent), and Estonia and Sweden (22.0 percent each) do proportionally more people live alone. The lowest shares are recorded in Slovakia (3.0 percent), Ireland (8.1 percent), and Poland (9.2 percent).
Source: www.faz.net
