Bruchsal, Germany, February 14, 2018 – A new GfK study reveals the regional distribution of Germany’s demographic traits, such as family type, age ranges and income levels. The nation’s highest share of single-person households is in the urban district of Regensburg, while the highest share of households with children is in the rural district of Cloppenburg.
Germany’s share of single-person households is just under 38 percent. The nationwide share of multiple-person households with children is 32.1 percent. This percentage again surpasses that of multiple-person households without children, which comes in at 30.1 percent.
| Germany – total | highest share | lowest share | |
| single-person households | 37.9% | Regensburg UD (56.4%) |
Cloppenburg RD (22.6%) |
| multiple-person households without children | 30.1% | Barnim RD (37.1 %) |
Regensburg RD (24.1%) |
| multiple-person households with children | 32.1% | Cloppenburg RD (49.6%) |
Würzburg UD (17.9%) |
Share of household types
source: GfK Demographics Germany 2017; UD = urban district; RD = rural district
With a 56.4 percent share of single-person households, Regensburg urban district significantly outpaces Germany’s other districts in this category. This percentage equates to 1.5 times the national average. At 53.5 percent, the urban district of Würzburg comes in at second place, followed by the urban districts of Leipzig (52.6 percent), Passau (52.3 percent) and Flensburg (51.8 percent). With a 49 percent share of single-person households, Germany’s capital Berlin holds the twentieth spot in the current study, coming in behind other large cities such as Munich (50.1 percent) and Cologne (49.6 percent).
Top 10 districts – 2017 share of single-person households
| ranking | district | inhabitants | share of single-person households as a % | single-person household index (100 = national average) |
| 1 | Regensburg UD | 145,465 | 56.4 | 148.9 |
| 2 | Würzburg UD | 124,873 | 53.5 | 141.3 |
| 3 | Leipzig UD | 560,472 | 52.6 | 138.9 |
| 4 | Passau UD | 50,566 | 52.3 | 138.2 |
| 5 | Flensburg UD | 85,942 | 51.8 | 136.8 |
| 6 | Trier UD | 114,914 | 51.1 | 135.0 |
| 7 | Erlangen UD | 108,336 | 51.1 | 135.0 |
| 8 | Bayreuth UD | 72,148 | 50.9 | 134.4 |
| 9 | Bamberg UD | 73,331 | 50.8 | 134.2 |
| 10 | Munich UD | 1,450,381 | 50.1 | 132.5 |
source: GfK Demographics Germany 2017; UD = urban district; RD = rural district
The share of households with children is often especially high in rural regions. At 49.6 percent, the rural district of Cloppenburg has the highest share, followed by the rural districts of Vechta and Eichstätt. Of the ten districts with the highest share of this household type, six are in Bavaria, three in Lower Saxony and one in Baden-Württemberg. At the other end of the spectrum is the urban district of Würzburg: Its high share of single-person households correlates with its low share of multiple-person households with children (17.9 percent).
Top 10 districts – 2017 share of multiple-person households with children
| ranking | district | inhabitants | share of multiple-person households with children as a % | index (100 = national average) |
| 1 | Cloppenburg RD | 164,734 | 49.6 | 154.5 |
| 2 | Vechta RD | 137,866 | 48.5 | 151.1 |
| 3 | Eichstätt RD | 128,805 | 47.9 | 149.2 |
| 4 | Straubing-Bogen RD | 98,806 | 47.8 | 149.1 |
| 5 | Emsland RD | 319,488 | 46.5 | 144.8 |
| 6 | Pfaffenhofen a.d.Ilm RD | 124,128 | 45.0 | 140.2 |
| 7 | Landshut RD | 154,577 | 44.8 | 139.7 |
| 8 | Dillingen a.d.Donau RD | 94,575 | 44.7 | 139.2 |
| 9 | Erding RD | 133,747 | 44.6 | 139.1 |
| 10 | Alb-Donau-Kreis RD | 192,104 | 44.3 | 138.0 |
source: GfK Demographics Germany 2017; UD = urban district; RD = rural district
With 2.12 people per household, the highest average household size in the nation is in Baden-Württemberg, closely followed by Rhineland-Palatinate at 2.11 people per household. With just 1.75 people per household, Berlin has the smallest average household size among Germany’s federal states. The national average is 2.02 people per household.
About the study
GfK Demographics reveals the socio-demographic profile of the population at various regional levels. The dataset provides information on Germany’s population and households according to household type (single- and multiple-person with or without children, as well as immigrant households), age range (i.e., age of household head), income level (divided into seven brackets), and architectural profile of the residence (single-, dual-, multiple-family house, etc.).
Marketing and sales divisions use GfK Demographics to locate target groups. The data reveals the most promising regions for promoting specific products. GfK Demographics is available for all of Germany’s urban and rural districts, municipalities, postcodes, streets and 2.6 million street segments from GfK’s Geomarketing solution area.
Additional information on GfK’s regional market data can be found here.
Print-quality illustrations can be found here.
About GfK
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