The number of people per household in Germany has continued to fall over the past 30 years. However, there are strong regional differences, with Germany’s city-states home to significantly smaller households.

Households in Germany are shrinking

The number of people living in German households is getting smaller, according to the Federal Institute for Population Research in Wiesbaden. Researchers used data from the 2020 micro census to calculate that, on average, 2,06 people share a household in Germany.

The number of people living together has long been on the decline in Germany. In 1991, an average of 2,28 people lived in a household.

Smaller households in Germany's city-states

There are pretty significant regional differences when it comes to household size in Germany, however. The southwest has some of the largest households in Germany, with an average of 2,11 people per household in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland Palatinate. The southwestern region of Germany is also home to the most households with three or more people. Only around every third person in Rhineland-Palatinate lives alone.

When it comes to Germany’s city-states, the picture is completely different. On average, there are only 1,82 people per household in Bremen. In Berlin, only an average of 1,83 people live in a household, while in Hamburg this figure rises slightly to 1,88. "Small households are mainly found in the big cities because many young people live there for study and training," said Harun Sulak from the Federal Institute for Population Research, as reported by tagesschau.