'Loneliness economy' emerges as more Koreans live alone

Free lunch is served for older adults, including those who live alone, at a park near Busan Metropolitan City Hall in November 2023. Newsis

Living alone in his early 40s after divorce ended his four-year marriage, an office worker surnamed Suh spends hundreds of thousands of won per month on premium food brands, top-rated grooming services and insurance for his Maltese dog.

Suh acknowledges that he may be spending “excessively” on his dog, considering Korean pet owners spend 142,000 won ($99) on average per month according to a 2024 report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Nevertheless, he finds it “worthwhile,” as his dog helps him escape loneliness, which he previously struggled with following his divorce.

“The joy and happiness that my dog brings as a lifetime companion is priceless, especially as I do not have kids and also rarely keep in touch with friends and family in recent years,” Suh said on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns.

According to economists, Suh’s unsparing financial commitment to his canine companion reflects the burgeoning “loneliness economy” — a segment of goods and services that capitalize on people’s feelings of isolation and social disconnection.

Such loneliness-driven businesses include psychological counseling and therapy, dating apps and even controversial dating services.

These businesses are closely associated with the fast-growing number of single-person households, including those who are unmarried, divorced or widowed, according to Shin Se-don, professor emeritus of economics at Sookmyung Women's University.

A woman who lives alone shops for groceries at a supermarket in this undated photo. Yonhap

“I am not saying all one-person households are lonely, as younger, unmarried Koreans tend to live alone to better enjoy single life,” Shin said. “But there are also individuals who are pushed to live by themselves against their will, and accordingly, they try to overcome loneliness by having pets or making other efforts.”

Shin referred to the latest Statistics Korea data, in which the number of single-person households reached 7.82 million in 2023, up 4.4 percent from a year earlier.

The 2023 tally accounted for 35.5 percent of all households in the country, the highest proportion since the stats agency began compiling the data in 2015.

People in their 30s and younger made up a 35.9 percent share of the 7.82 million single-person households.

The corresponding age groups, despite a recent rebound in marriage rates, have been delaying marriage due to the high cost of weddings, housing, raising children and other financial challenges.

While some people choose not to marry, many are still interested in meeting people and turn to dating apps.

Some people also pay money to offline dating agencies or turn to services to “rent” their ideal type of man or woman for an hour or longer.

Jung Ho-chul of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic activist group, reckoned that divorce and death of a spouse in aging societies also prompt people to rely on the loneliness economy.

According to 2022 data from the OECD, Korea ranked second in terms of divorce rates among Asian countries, with 1.8 divorces per 1,000 individuals.

Statistics Korea data showed that 22.1 percent of people aged 65 or older were living alone in 2024, up from 16 percent in 2020.

“Divorce and the death of a spouse can be traumatic, and those who are traumatized are likely to increase as more Koreans live longer and yet are not ready to cope with loneliness,” Jung said. “In other words, people will have a higher demand for psychological counseling and therapy.”