How much more expensive it is to live alone in Norway?
Housing expenses are much higher for people living alone than for couples. Statistics Norway has now calculated how much less money a person living alone has to make do with.
- Single residents in Norway spend an average of 5,000 USD more annually on housing than couples without children spend per person.
- A full 41 per cent of single residents' total expenses now go towards housing.
- The high housing costs mean that people living alone have less money to furnish their homes, for leisure, cars, and most other things.
Living has become increasingly expensive
"Living has become increasingly expensive. Housing expenses constitute a particularly large share of the budget for those living alone," Knut Olav Linnerud at the Statistics Norway (SSB) tells sciencenorway.no.
Over one million Norwegians now live alone.
On average, a person living alone in Norway spent 14,600 USD on housing in 2022.
"Housing expenses are lower for couples who can share household expenses. This gives them more financial resources for other things like larger purchases of furniture and leisure equipment," he says.
"At the same time, we see that single residents prioritize differently. They spend more money on restaurant visits and cultural activities. They also tend to set aside more money to be social," he says.
Linnerud notes that students, in particular, often have different spending patterns than other single residents.
What couples save money on
Households with multiple adults benefit from what are called economies of scale.
Compared to single residents, couples save on housing, heating, electricity, furniture, and household items, TV and internet subscriptions, and car expenses.
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Other expenses like clothing and shoes, health costs, and alcohol and tobacco are more individual. So there is less to save here. The same patly applies to food and drinks.
Greatest difference in leisure equipment
SSB finds the greatest difference between single residents and couples without children when it comes to leisure equipment.
While the average person living alone spent only 365 USD on this in 2022, the average Norwegian couple without children spent a whole 2,280 USD on leisure equipment that year.
People living alone also spent significantly less on cars, largely because many manage without one.
People living alone spend more on dining out
"On the other hand, the average person living alone spent about 1,370 USD on dining out, compared to 820 USD per person for couples without children," says Linnerud.
Linnerud and SSB observe the same trend in personal care products, transportation costs, and culture. Here, people living alone also spend more than those who live with someone else.
About 60 per cent of single residents in the survey owned their own home, while the corresponding figure for couples without children was 90 per cent.
About the survey
To compare different groups, SSB had to calculate homeowners’ housing expenses as if they were renting a similar home. This makes the figures somewhat less certain, as households with low debt and valuable properties often have lower housing expenses than the value of the property would suggest.
The figures from SSB represent an average spending pattern for the household groups of single-person households and couples without children. Spending patterns for these two groups will vary according to characteristics such as age, income level, gender, and residential area/centrality.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
Reference:
Statistics Norway: Aleneboende må prioritere boligutgifter foran andre forbruksgoder (Single-person households have to prioritise housing expenses over other consumer goods), 2024. Data from the survey of consumer expenditure.
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