The numbers come from Woonbase, the new housing survey based on integrated data sources. This was developed by Statistics Netherlands in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
Differences in living space for each life stage
Each person’s living space depends on people’s life stage. Woonbase data for 2021 shows that young adults (15-20 years old) started out with an average living space of 56 square metres. As they get older, this decreases slightly. This has to do with living together and/or having children. When more people live in a house, the same house is shared with more people, so the living space per person becomes smaller.
From the age of 35, people have more living space again. Hence the reasons are children leaving home, divorce and later also widowhood. As a result, people are more likely to live alone and thus have more space to themselves. Comparatively, (independently living) single or cohabiting people over the age of 70 have the largest living space: an average of 79 square metres.
| From 15 to 20 | 58.3 | 55.1 |
|---|---|---|
| From 20 to 25 | 51.5 | 47.7 |
| 25 to 30 | 51.9 | 47.7 |
| 30 to 35 | 50.9 | 44.4 |
| 35 to 40 | 47.9 | 41.1 |
| 40 to 45 | 48.4 | 42.2 |
| 45 to 50 | 51.2 | 46.5 |
| From 50 to 55 | 55.8 | 54.2 |
| 55 to 60 | 63.0 | 64.9 |
| 60 to 65 | 69.7 | 72.3 |
| 65 to 70 | 73.1 | 75.9 |
| 70 to 75 | 73.8 | 78.6 |
| 75 to 80 | 74.6 | 83.1 |
| 80 to 85 | 74.0 | 85.8 |
| 85 to 90 | 77.0 | 90.4 |
| 90 to 95 | 83.2 | 91.7 |
| 95+ | 89.6 | 90.1 |
Women live longer than men later in life
Not only is age related to the number of square meters, gender also plays a role. Men live relatively longer than women until the age of 55. Then, the situation is reversed and women, on average, enjoy more living space. The difference between men and women is increasing, especially among those over 70 years old. This may be due to the fact that men die younger, so that women are often left home alone on average.
Singles have the most living space
The average living space per person also varies according to the type of household. For example, single people have an average of 87 square meters at their disposal. This is less than half for families with children (39 m2) and 63 m2 for couples without children. There are also significant age differences between single people. Individuals over 70 years old live on average 104 square meters and bachelors between the ages of 15 and 30 live on 60 square meters. Of all childless couples, people aged 50-70 live the widest at 69 square metres, while those aged 15-30 live the most (46 square metres).
Within different types of households, the difference in living space between older men and women is not significant. For example, single males over the age of 70 live on average in 107 square meters and women average 103 square meters. However, it is mainly women who live in larger houses. That’s because there are more than twice as many older single women (583k) as there are older single men (241k).
| singles | From 15 to 30 | 61.5 | 58.1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| singles | 30 to 50 | 80.7 | 76.5 |
| singles | From 50 to 70 | 96.2 | 96 |
| singles | 70+ | 107 | 103.2 |
| households with children | From 15 to 30 | 31.9 | 32.5 |
| households with children | 30 to 50 | 35.6 | 36 |
| households with children | From 50 to 70 | 43.5 | 44.9 |
| households with children | 70+ | 48.4 | 55.4 |
People over 70 live very minimally in the Randstad district
People aged 70 or over, the age group with the largest living space on average, generally live along the eastern border of the Netherlands. In the COROP regions of southwest Friesland and central Limburg, they have the largest living space of just over 90 square metres. People over 70 live minimally in Greater Rijnmünde (68 sqm), Greater Amsterdam (67 sqm) and Zaanstreik (68 sqm).
| East Groningen | 88.9 |
| Delfzijl and its surroundings | 87.2 |
| Other Groningen | 87.9 |
| North Frisia | 84.8 |
| Southwest Friesland | 90.4 |
| Southeast Friesland | 85.3 |
| north of Drenthe | 88.1 |
| southeast of Drenthe | 85.8 |
| southwest of Drenthe | 88.6 |
| North Overijssel | 84.7 |
| Southwest Overijssel | 81.5 |
| Twente | 82 |
| filloy | 78.6 |
| Ashtarhawk | 89.1 |
| Arnhem / Nijmegen | 80 |
| southwest of Gelderland | 83.1 |
| Utrecht | 76.4 |
| North Holland Cup | 77.5 |
| Alkmaar and its surroundings | 76.3 |
| Egmond | 71.4 |
| Harlem Cluster | 77.7 |
| Zan area | 68.4 |
| Greater Amsterdam | 66.6 |
| Gooi and Vecht districts | 80.7 |
| Leiden and Polynestric agglomeration | 74.5 |
| The Hague bloc | 71.1 |
| Delft and Westland | 71.1 |
| East South Holland | 73.4 |
| Greater Reginmond | 68.2 |
| Southeast South Holland | 69.7 |
| Zeeuws-Vlaanderen | 81.1 |
| Other Zeeland | 78 |
| west of North Brabant | 79.9 |
| Central North Brabant | 81 |
| Northeast of North Brabant | 86.2 |
| southeast of North Brabant | 88.1 |
| North Limburg | 89.6 |
| Central Limburg | 92.5 |
| South Limburg | 86.6 |
| Flevoland | 79.4 |
When creating Woonbase, the latest number published (for 2017) turned out to be quite high (65 square metres). This was corrected in October 2022 and explained in this post. After correction, the average living space in 2017 was 53 square metres, the same as in 2021. The differences are further explained in the explanatory notes.