Families and households, 1 January 2007

2.2 persons per household

An average household counted 2.2 people on 1 January this year. This is a slight decrease from 1 January 2006 and confirms that the development towards smaller households continues. Oslo continues to have the smallest households with 1.9 people per household, while Sogn og Fjordane still has the largest households with 2.5 people per household.

More than 800 000 live alone

802 300 people - or 17.3 per cent of the population - were living alone at the beginning of this year. This proportion is increasing steadily. In 1960 the corresponding figure was 4.3.

Oslo continues to have the largest proportion of people living alone, while Akershus has the lowest proportion. In Oslo, 29.2 per cent live alone, compared with 13.5 per cent in Akershus. Sogn og Fjordane also has a low proportion of people living alone, at 13.9 per cent.

Compared with the number of households, people who live alone constituted 38.9 per cent of the population in the country as a whole, whereas more than half of all the households in Oslo consisted of one person. Here, too, Akershus had the lowest proportion, with 32.4 per cent.

30 per cent of those who live alone are 67 years or over, and in this age group the number of women living alone is almost three times higher than the number of men.

Tables:

• Table 1 Population by, sex, age and type of household. 1 January 2007
• Table 2 Private households and persons per private household, by county. 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2007
• Table 3 Private households, by type of household. 1980, 1990, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Number and per cent
• Table 4 Private households and persons in private households, by size of household, county, municipality and urban district. 1. January 2007
• Table 5 Private households, by type of household, county, municipality and urban district. 1 January 2007
• Table 6 Private households, by type of household, county, municipality and urban district. 1 January 2007. Per cent
• Table 7 Private households and persons in private households, by type of household. 1 January 2007. Numbers and per cent
• Table 8 Persons in private households, by type of household, county, municipality and urban district. 1 January 2007. Per cent
• Table 9 Families, by type of family, county, municipality and urban district. 1 January 2007
• Table 10 Families with children 0-17 years by, county, type of family and number of children. 1 January 2007
• Table 11 Persons in private households, by sex, cohabitation arrangements and age. 1 January 2007
• Table 12 Couples and persons in couples with and without children in private households, by cohabitation arrangements, number of children in the family and age. 1 January 2007
• Table 13 Couples with and without children in private households, by cohabitation arrangements, county, municipality and urban district. 1 January 2007. Per cent
• Table 14 Persons 18 years and over in private households. Percentage living/not living as couples, by age, county, municipality and urban district.l. 1 January 2007. Per cent