Household Projections. 2024–2054

The number of households in Catalonia would grow to 3.349 million in 2034, equivalent to 256 thousand more households than in 2024 (8.3% more), according to the demographic trends reflected in the medium scenario of the Household Projections. Average household size would fall from 2.56 people in 2024 to 2.53 people by 2034.

One-person households would increase the most (by 14.5%) and would account for 27.3% of all households by 2034. By age groups, the largest increase in single-person households would be among people aged 80 and over (28.9%) followed by those aged 60 to 79 (21.1%). In 2034, there would be 183,000 households made up of single people aged 80 and over while the number of single-person households under the age of 40 would be 152,000.

Two-person households are currently the most numerous in Catalonia as a whole and are expected to reach 973,000 by 2034, an 8.6% increase. Their proportion of total households would stay at 29.0%. Three-person households would increase by 5.0% and represent 20.1% of Catalan households in 2034. Meanwhile, four-person households would rise by 0.7% and their share of all households would fall to 15.3%. Larger households (made up of five people or more), which are at present the least numerous in Catalonia, would also increase by 11.1%, the second largest rise in household size groups. Together with single-person households, they are the only ones which would gain share in the total number of households as they would go from 8.0% to 8.3%.

With regard to territorial distribution, the number of households in 2034 would be higher than at present in all counties and Aran. The counties with the greatest increases in relative terms would be El Baix Penedès (19.8%), La Garrotxa (15.9%) and El Moianès (15.8%), while those with the least growth would be El Barcelonès (2.4%), La Ribera d’Ebre (2.5%) and La Terra Alta (3.5%).

Single-person households would increase in all counties and Aran, but especially significant is the expected rise in households with one person aged 60 or over at 42.4% in El Vallès Oriental and 42.2% in El Baix Penedès. Households with five or more people would also increase throughout the territory.

By 2054, there would be 3.577 million households in Catalonia, almost half a million more than there are today, due to the combined effect of the increase in population and the decrease in the average size of households, which would stand at 2.48 people per household.