Insights
Singles by age and sex: how the shares change with age
Who is single depends strongly on age and, in the oldest group, on sex. This page sets 10 countries side by side, shows the single, married and partnered shares for men and women in four age groups, and explains what the numbers can and cannot tell you.
The short answer
Young adults are mostly single and the share drops sharply by the time people reach their thirties: across the 10 countries, 74% of 18 to 29 year olds are single on average, against 33% of those aged 30 to 44 (range for the youngest group: 61% in Brazil to 85% in Japan). Among 18 to 29 year olds men are more often single than women in 10 of the 10 countries; among those aged 60 and over women are more often single in 10. The lowest single share is found in the 45–59 group in 8 of the 10 countries. The flip comes mostly from marriage patterns and from widowhood, and the model takes these shares from country data rather than explaining them.
Single shares by age group and sex
Each row shows the share of adults who are neither married nor partnered. Read across to see how a country changes with age, and down to see how countries differ in the same age group.
All three tables count every adult of an age group before sexual orientation is taken into account. For each country, sex and age group the three shares (married, partnered, single) add up to 100%.
| Country | Sex | 18–29 | 30–44 | 45–59 | 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | Men | 76% | 38% | 32% | 26% |
| Women | 74% | 35% | 31% | 46% | |
| Germany | Men | 78% | 38% | 30% | 25% |
| Women | 76% | 34% | 30% | 47% | |
| Austria | Men | 79% | 40% | 32% | 27% |
| Women | 77% | 36% | 31% | 48% | |
| France | Men | 69% | 37% | 34% | 27% |
| Women | 67% | 33% | 38% | 50% | |
| United Kingdom | Men | 71% | 37% | 33% | 27% |
| Women | 69% | 34% | 32% | 45% | |
| United States | Men | 74% | 36% | 29% | 29% |
| Women | 68% | 30% | 34% | 49% | |
| Brazil | Men | 65% | 33% | 30% | 33% |
| Women | 58% | 30% | 37% | 58% | |
| Japan | Men | 88% | 42% | 25% | 17% |
| Women | 82% | 30% | 17% | 43% | |
| South Korea | Men | 88% | 40% | 22% | 13% |
| Women | 82% | 27% | 13% | 41% | |
| India | Men | 88% | 21% | 6% | 14% |
| Women | 60% | 9% | 14% | 49% | |
| Average of the countries | Men | 78% | 36% | 27% | 24% |
| Women | 71% | 30% | 28% | 48% |
Among 18 to 29 year olds the gap between men and women is largest in India: 88% of men and 60% of women are single. In the group aged 60 and over the gap points the other way and is largest in India, where 49% of women and 14% of men are single.
Why the shares flip with age
Two things happen in the table. First, the single share is highest among young adults and falls until the middle years; it is lowest in the 45–59 group in 8 of the 10 countries. Second, the sexes swap places: in most of these countries men are more often single when young, and women are more often single when old.
The model reads these shares from the country files and does not simulate why. The usual demographic explanations are general patterns, not something measured here. Longer lives: women live longer than men, so in the oldest group many more women than men are widowed. In the tables the married share of men aged 60 and over averages 71% across the countries, against 49% of women. Age gaps: in many countries women on average partner with men who are somewhat older. In the youngest group that leaves more men than women without a partner, and in the oldest group it leaves more women alone once their partner has died. Timing: the later a society marries, the longer the youngest group stays single, unless unmarried partnerships take over, which the tables further down show.
None of this says that men or women are less able to find a partner. It is a statement about shares of a population at one moment.
Marriage across the age groups
The married share climbs with age: on average 7% of 18 to 29 year olds, 54% of 30 to 44 year olds and 65% of 45 to 59 year olds are married in these countries. In the oldest group the gap between the sexes is a matter of widowhood, as explained above.
| Country | Sex | 18–29 | 30–44 | 45–59 | 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | Men | 2% | 48% | 62% | 69% |
| Women | 4% | 52% | 63% | 50% | |
| Germany | Men | 4% | 51% | 63% | 69% |
| Women | 6% | 55% | 63% | 49% | |
| Austria | Men | 3% | 49% | 62% | 68% |
| Women | 5% | 53% | 63% | 48% | |
| France | Men | 3% | 46% | 55% | 66% |
| Women | 5% | 50% | 52% | 45% | |
| United Kingdom | Men | 2% | 46% | 57% | 65% |
| Women | 4% | 50% | 58% | 50% | |
| United States | Men | 6% | 50% | 62% | 66% |
| Women | 10% | 56% | 58% | 47% | |
| Brazil | Men | 7% | 32% | 48% | 57% |
| Women | 10% | 36% | 46% | 36% | |
| Japan | Men | 4% | 50% | 70% | 81% |
| Women | 10% | 62% | 78% | 55% | |
| South Korea | Men | 4% | 52% | 73% | 86% |
| Women | 11% | 65% | 82% | 58% | |
| India | Men | 12% | 78% | 93% | 85% |
| Women | 40% | 90% | 85% | 50% | |
| Average of the countries | Men | 5% | 50% | 64% | 71% |
| Women | 10% | 57% | 65% | 49% |
Where partnership replaces marriage
In the youngest group partnerships without marriage carry a good part of the load: 18% of 18 to 29 year olds are partnered but not married on average, against 4% of those aged 60 and over. The share is highest in Brazil (30%) and lowest in India (0%). Where it is high, the single share of young adults is lower than the married share alone would suggest.
| Country | Sex | 18–29 | 30–44 | 45–59 | 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | Men | 22% | 13% | 6% | 5% |
| Women | 22% | 13% | 6% | 4% | |
| Germany | Men | 18% | 11% | 7% | 6% |
| Women | 18% | 11% | 7% | 4% | |
| Austria | Men | 18% | 11% | 6% | 5% |
| Women | 18% | 11% | 6% | 4% | |
| France | Men | 28% | 17% | 11% | 7% |
| Women | 28% | 17% | 10% | 5% | |
| United Kingdom | Men | 27% | 16% | 10% | 8% |
| Women | 27% | 16% | 10% | 5% | |
| United States | Men | 20% | 14% | 9% | 5% |
| Women | 22% | 14% | 8% | 4% | |
| Brazil | Men | 28% | 35% | 22% | 10% |
| Women | 32% | 34% | 17% | 6% | |
| Japan | Men | 8% | 8% | 5% | 2% |
| Women | 8% | 8% | 5% | 2% | |
| South Korea | Men | 8% | 8% | 5% | 1% |
| Women | 8% | 8% | 5% | 1% | |
| India | Men | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Women | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | |
| Average of the countries | Men | 18% | 13% | 8% | 5% |
| Women | 18% | 13% | 7% | 4% |
A snapshot, not a life story
The tables compare different people at the same moment. The 60-plus group of today is not the 18 to 29 group of forty years ago: marriage ages, divorce and cohabitation have changed, so a country’s young adults will not necessarily look like today’s older adults later in life.
The oldest group is also very wide, from 60 to the highest ages, and its single share includes divorced and widowed people. A high single share at 60 and over therefore does not mean that these people never had a partner.
What “single” means here
A person is single when they are neither married nor in an unmarried partnership (a couple who live together or are exclusive), whether or not they are looking. Other statistics use other definitions, such as never married or living alone. Single, unmarried and living alone sets them side by side.
How reliable are these comparisons?
Every country file carries a data year (2025) and a confidence grade. Of the 10 countries here, 10 are graded high, 0 medium and 0 low, which the calculator turns into bands of about ±12%, ±25% and ±45% on counts. Shares are less sensitive than counts, but a medium or low row is still a range.
The married and partnered shares come as survey based values per age group and are interpolated to single years of age before they are added up to the four groups shown. The tables for men and for women come from separate survey tables; a married man implies a married woman, but the data do not enforce that, so the sexes do not balance exactly. Differences of a few percentage points between men and women should not be over-interpreted.
Country pages and the wider comparison
The same tables with absolute numbers, a ratio of single men to single women and a funnel for a standard search are on Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the UK and the US. For the pool of available singles across the largest countries see the country comparison. More on the method: how DateTruth counts.
Try it with your own numbers
These links open the calculator for the two largest gaps in the tables: the young men of the first, the older women of the second. Change the country, the age range or any filter.
A man looking for women, 18–29, India A woman looking for men, 60+, India