Insee Première · February 2025 · n° 2040

In 2021, one out of three people aged 65 or over lived alone in their home

In 2021, almost six out of ten people aged 65 or over were living with a partner, and a third of them were living alone in their home. Living in an institution was very rare until the age of 85.

Among people aged 65 or over, because of differences in life expectancy and age gaps within couples, men were more likely than women to be living in a couple (71% versus 45%). After 85, 55% of men were still living in a couple, compared with only 14% of women.

Living with a partner was more common in 2021 than it was thirty years ago. Conversely, living with other people, mostly children, was much less common. In older age groups, living alone at home or in an institution was more common than in the past.

Over the age of 85, living with other people than a partner remained much more common in the French overseas departments, in Corsica and in the South-West of mainland France, whereas living in an institution was more widespread in the South-Eastern belt of the Massif central and in the North-West.