Household types

At the beginning of 2024, there were more than 2.950.000 private households (open definition) in the Flemish Region. On average, a private household consisted of 2.28 persons.

Since 2000, the number of private households has increased faster than the number of inhabitants. Hence the average size of a private household has decreased. In 2000, a private household consisted of 2.45 persons on average.

At the beginning of 2024, the 3 most common private household types were: single person households (33%), married couples without children living at home (22%) and married couples with 1 or more children living at home (20%).

Between 2004 and 2024, the share of households of married couples with 1 or more children living at home dropped from 30% to 20%. The share of households with unmarried couples with 1 or more children living at home increased in this period from 3% to 8%. The share of single person households also increased from 29% to 33%.

In the beginning of 2024, the younger households (with a reference person (open definition) younger than 60 years) were largely composed of married couples with 1 or more children living at home (29%) and single person households (28%). Over 1 in 10 younger households is a single parent household. 79% of younger married couples have resident children. Among unmarried younger couples, the figure is 60%.

Among older households (households where the reference person is 60 years or older), married couples without resident children and single person households (both 41%) predominate in early 2024.

Almost half of older households are married couples. Only 5% form an unmarried couple and 4% are single parent households.

By early 2024, partners were living together in 1,665,000 of the 2,951,000 private households. Within these partner households, almost 3 out of 4 couples were married. There were more married couples without children living at home than with children living at home. Among unmarried couples, the reverse is true: there are more couples with children living at home than without children living at home.

One or more children lived in 1,072,000 of the 2,951,000 private households. The parents (or parent and partner of the parent) were married in more than half of the families (55%), in 22% of the families the partners were unmarried. Over 1 in 5 (23%) of families are single parent families.

On average, 1.8 children lived in a household with children (family). Over 4 in 10 households (44%) had 1 child living with them in early 2024. This means there was already 1 resident child or only 1 child was still living with the parent(s).

An average of 1.6 children lived in a single parent household. Among single parent households, the share with 1 resident child rose to 6 out of 10.

At the beginning of 2024, married couples had on average 1.9 children living with them and unmarried couples 1.8 children. In 42% of married and unmarried couples, 2 children lived in. Unmarried couples were slightly more likely to have 1 child living in, married couples were slightly more likely to have more than 2 children.

At the beginning of 2024, 1 in 3 private households (33%) in the Flemish Region was a single person household. The proportion of people living alone varied by municipality from 15% (Herstappe) and 22% (Pepingen) to 48% (Leuven). This variation is partly related to the age of the inhabitants. The highest percentages were found in the coastal municipalities and in the university cities.

At the beginning of 2024, there were relatively more married couples without resident children in the Flemish Region than in the other regions. The Flemish Region also had the highest percentage of married couples with children living at home. The proportion of people living alone was lowest in the Flemish Region. The percentage of single parent households was also lowest there.

The Brussels-Capital Region had the highest percentage of single person households: in 2024 47% of the households is a single person household.

The Walloon Region was distinguished by the slightly higher percentage of unmarried couples with resident children.

In 2023, the percentage of single person households in the Flemish Region was slightly below the EU average. The share in the Walloon Region was slightly above this average. The share in the Brussels region was significantly higher than the EU average, at a similar level to the Scandinavian countries.