Size the buying unit, not only the population.
Twenty-four countries add households while their population falls, so a plan sized on people alone is aimed at the wrong number. Our analysis counts and forecasts households across 194 countries to 2036, by size, by the age of the head and by what they spend.
Households and people stop moving together.
Worldwide the two grow at the same rate over the decade, within a hundredth of a percentage point. The aggregate hides the split: in twenty-four markets the number of homes rises while the number of people in them falls.
China adds the most households and the fewest people.
Ranking the same ten markets twice, once on households gained and once on people gained, moves them a long way. A distribution network sized on the second ranking is built for the wrong country.
One in seven households holds one person.
Solo households are a seventh of the world’s homes, a twenty-sixth of its people and a tenth of its consumer spending. Between 2026 and 2036 they grow two and a half times as fast as households overall.
A small home spends more per person than a large one.
Read across the sizes and the three shares come apart. Households of six or more hold two fifths of the world’s people and a fifth of its spending, and one-person homes do the reverse.
Couples without children overtake couples with children.
Couples without children add 75.2 million homes by 2036 and people living alone add 63.5 million. Couples with children lose 36.6 million homes and single parents lose 7.6 million.
China passes Germany in premium homes in 2027.
Premium homes, where each member spends $130 a day or more, grow from 145.3 million to 234.8 million between 2026 and 2036 and carry 31.6% of consumer spending. China passes Germany in 2027, and India passes Germany in 2033.
What we hold on households.
Every dataset behind this page, and the rest of what the model publishes about the home rather than the person.
Households FAQ
Questions about household markets.
The model counts 2.14 billion homes in 194 countries in 2026 and 2.30 billion by 2036. Every year has a figure, observed or forecast. Household figures stop at 2036, earlier than the spending model, which runs to 2050.
Many purchases, from appliances to insurance, are bought once per home. We sort every home by how many people live in it, from one to six or more, by the age of its head across thirteen age groups, and by what its members each spend a day, up to $130 and above.
Worldwide they do, almost exactly, with both growing about 7.8% between 2026 and 2036. Market by market they come apart. 24 countries add households while losing people. Between them they gain 43 million homes and lose 56 million people, and they hold 31.8% of the world's households. China adds the most households of any country and loses the most people.
Couples with children and single parents are. Between 2026 and 2036 couples with children lose 36.6 million homes and single parents lose 7.6 million, while couples without children add 75.2 million and people living alone add 63.5 million.
Yes, by a long way per person. One-person homes are 3.9% of the world's people but 9.8% of its consumer spending. Homes of six or more are 39.7% of people and 22.0% of spending.
About one in seven, or 15.1% of the world's households, rising from 321.6 million homes in 2026 to 385.1 million by 2036. The share is rising fastest in South Korea, China and Thailand.
Households
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Size the households in your markets
Access household counts and forecasts across 194 countries to 2036.