Household growth now comes from older people and people living alone. This report maps five trends: Silver Household Economy, Living Alone: The Rise of the Solo Consumer, The One-Child Family Goes Mainstream, Pets as Family and Housing Squeeze Hits Young and Solo. It shows where household demand builds to 2040, where it thins, and how brands already respond.
Delivery
This report comes in PPT.
Key findings
Household growth is not a given
Shrinking household size usually keeps household numbers rising even when populations stall. In 22 countries, that is no longer enough: they will have fewer households in 2040 than in 2025. In 18 of them, average size still falls. Poland's households peaked in 2024 and Japan's peak in 2029. Categories bought per home there face a shrinking base.
The solo economy is an emerging market story
Living alone is usually pictured as a Western, urban lifestyle. Yet 83% of the 235 million single-person households added between 2025 and 2040 will be in Asia Pacific, Latin America or the Middle East and Africa. China alone adds 117 million, half the global total. Brazil adds 7 million, more than the US.
Over-60s now head more homes than under-40s
In 2025, over-60s headed 716 million households, overtaking the 711 million headed by under-40s. The gap widens fast. By 2040, over-60s head just over one billion homes, while under-40 households barely grow, reaching 719 million. Over-60s supply 68% of household growth to 2040, against 2% for under-40s. The customer base for household goods is shifting from first homes to later life.
Pets are family, but not in every home yet
In 2026, 70% of pet owners call pets beloved family members, regardless of household type. Meanwhile, ownership reaches 66% among people living with children but only 41% among people living alone. Growth depends on spending per pet.
The rise of renting that never arrives
Rising house prices are widely expected to lock more people out of ownership and into renting. The forecast does not show it. Renters stay at 19% of households from 2025 to 2040, and the share barely changes in most markets. In the US, it even edges down. The pressure shows in budgets: young and solo households spend 23-24% on housing.
Our expert’s view of Households in 2025
Key findings
Households are growing in numbers and shrinking in size
Top five trends in Households
Top five trends uncovered
Two thirds of new households to 2040 will be headed by over-60s
From disposable to daily wear: Essity broadens the incontinence playbook
Marigold brings healthy ageing nutrition into Malaysia's mass-market dairy
Silver economy growth: Beyond the senior aisle
More than one in four households will be a person living alone by 2040
Mega MGC's dessert drink turns a familiar treat into a solo occasion
Mars turns a rice brand into a meal for one
Solo living: The table-for-one growth opportunity
One in two families with children will have only one child by 2040
Nestlé takes premium infant nutrition global as families shrink
OWNDAYS uses social media to reach parents, blending medical awareness with offers
Falling birth rates: The value-per-child opportunity
Pet ownership follows household size, while humanisation is universal
Cif Infinite Clean designs cleaning for homes shared with pets
PETKIT introduces fully automatic AI wet food feeder
Pet humanisation : Growth in every pet bowl
Housing costs weigh most on young and single-person households
Outpost and June Homes scale affordable co-living for young renters
Samsung fits two appliances into the space of one
Generation rent: Growth opportunities in small spaces
Future implications
Opportunities for growth
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