Some 3.3 million of the Netherlands’ population of 18 million live alone, or almost one in five people, according to calculations by national statistics agency CBS.

Most of those living alone are women over the age 70, many of whose partner has died. At the beginning of this year, 613,000 elderly women lived by themselves, compared with 274,000 older men.

Slightly more men than women in their 20s live alone and by the time they reach 30 and 40, men are clearly in the majority, the CBS said. That is partly down to divorce and children remaining with their mother.

In 1960, just 3% of the population lived alone, and the percentage has increased steadily since then. By the mid 1980s, the total had topped 10%, reaching 19% at the beginning of this year.