In 2016, the EU had 220 million households.  The most common type of household was composed of one person (33 % of the total number of households), followed by households consisting of couples without children (25 %) and couples with children (20 %).  4% of households were made up of single adults with children.  The remaining 18 % consisted of other types of households with or without children. 

Among the Member States, over half of households in Sweden (52 % of all households) were one person households, while in Malta (20 %) it was a fifth.  Finland (32 %) had the highest share of households consisting of couples without children and Ireland (28 %) had the largest proportion of couples with children.  Lithuania had both the lowest share of households consisting of couples with children (17 %) and of couples without children (14 %). 

Denmark (9 %) recorded the highest share of households consisting of single adults with children, while Greece, Croatia and Finland (all 2 %) had the lowest.