placestats

Fixed broadband vs. One-person households

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 147 countries, Fixed broadband and One-person households rise and fall together at r = +0.76 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to +0.49 (q = 0.034, allowing for the many pairs tested). Much of the first figure is that both measures rise with national income, but a moderate positive link remains.

Comparing countries across the middle half of one-person households, 6.78% to 22.6% of households, fixed broadband is better by 18.1 per 100 people at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 8.27 per 100 people.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.764p = 2.0e-29 · 147 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.486p = 5.0e-10 · likely range [+0.35, +0.60]
p, allowing for regions0.010standard error 0.131 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.034across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Fixed broadband · per 100 peoplelink with income +0.88 · proxy
One-person households · % of householdslink with income +0.70 · high

Both of these rise and fall closely with national income, so a strong link between them before adjusting was close to certain. Read the adjusted figure, not the first one.

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Fixed broadband · per 100 people →One-person households · % of households →051.30.19%41.1%Aruba: 17.5 per 100 people, 21.4% of householdsAfghanistan: 0.0801 per 100 people, 0.19% of householdsAngola: 0.363 per 100 people, 10.8% of householdsAlbania: 24.9 per 100 people, 9.95% of householdsArgentina: 26.1 per 100 people, 22.8% of householdsArmenia: 20.3 per 100 people, 15.2% of householdsAustralia: 36.5 per 100 people, 22.8% of householdsAustria: 30.1 per 100 people, 36.3% of householdsBurundi: 0.0203 per 100 people, 6.04% of householdsBelgium: 44.2 per 100 people, 34% of householdsBenin: 0.277 per 100 people, 9.78% of householdsBurkina Faso: 0.851 per 100 people, 6.64% of householdsBangladesh: 8.09 per 100 people, 2.85% of householdsBulgaria: 37 per 100 people, 30.8% of householdsBahamas, The: 25.3 per 100 people, 17.7% of householdsBosnia and Herzegovina: 29.4 per 100 people, 11.5% of householdsBelarus: 36.3 per 100 people, 38% of householdsBelize: 9.75 per 100 people, 17.2% of householdsBermuda: 51.3 per 100 people, 34.1% of householdsBolivia: 12.1 per 100 people, 20.5% of householdsBrazil: 24.1 per 100 people, 12% of householdsBarbados: 37.5 per 100 people, 26.3% of householdsBrunei Darussalam: 21.2 per 100 people, 7.22% of householdsBhutan: 2.92 per 100 people, 6.13% of householdsCentral African Republic: 0.0161 per 100 people, 6.2% of householdsCanada: 42.5 per 100 people, 28.2% of householdsChile: 23.7 per 100 people, 20.2% of householdsCote d'Ivoire: 1.6 per 100 people, 17% of householdsCameroon: 2.13 per 100 people, 15.3% of householdsCongo, Dem. Rep.: 0.032 per 100 people, 7.55% of householdsCongo, Rep.: 1.27 per 100 people, 13.8% of householdsColombia: 17.2 per 100 people, 11.1% of householdsComoros: 0.388 per 100 people, 4.91% of householdsCosta Rica: 23.3 per 100 people, 12.1% of householdsCyprus: 37.6 per 100 people, 20.8% of householdsCzechia: 38.9 per 100 people, 32.5% of householdsGermany: 45.6 per 100 people, 37.3% of householdsDominican Republic: 11.2 per 100 people, 20.1% of householdsAlgeria: 13.3 per 100 people, 1.61% of householdsEgypt, Arab Rep.: 11.7 per 100 people, 6.48% of householdsSpain: 39.2 per 100 people, 23.2% of householdsEthiopia: 0.594 per 100 people, 6.36% of householdsFinland: 36.5 per 100 people, 41% of householdsFiji: 1.8 per 100 people, 5.94% of householdsFrance: 48.9 per 100 people, 35.5% of householdsGabon: 4.69 per 100 people, 22.4% of householdsUnited Kingdom: 42.2 per 100 people, 30.6% of householdsGeorgia: 30.4 per 100 people, 15% of householdsGhana: 0.665 per 100 people, 21.5% of householdsGuinea: 0.00628 per 100 people, 5.07% of householdsGambia, The: 0.519 per 100 people, 9.72% of householdsGuinea-Bissau: 0.386 per 100 people, 4.14% of householdsGreece: 44.7 per 100 people, 25.7% of householdsGuatemala: 5.34 per 100 people, 4.33% of householdsGuyana: 12.9 per 100 people, 15.8% of householdsHong Kong SAR, China: 40.3 per 100 people, 18.3% of householdsHonduras: 4.58 per 100 people, 10.4% of householdsCroatia: 29.6 per 100 people, 24.6% of householdsHaiti: 0.307 per 100 people, 9.43% of householdsHungary: 37.5 per 100 people, 32.1% of householdsIndonesia: 4.92 per 100 people, 7.1% of householdsIndia: 3.15 per 100 people, 5.11% of householdsIreland: 32.3 per 100 people, 22% of householdsIran, Islamic Rep.: 12.1 per 100 people, 7.16% of householdsIraq: 17.6 per 100 people, 1.01% of householdsItaly: 31.8 per 100 people, 31.1% of householdsJamaica: 16 per 100 people, 28.2% of householdsJordan: 7.02 per 100 people, 4.36% of householdsJapan: 38.6 per 100 people, 34.5% of householdsKazakhstan: 15.3 per 100 people, 15.5% of householdsKenya: 3.04 per 100 people, 19.4% of householdsKyrgyz Republic: 7.8 per 100 people, 12.3% of householdsCambodia: 4.15 per 100 people, 3.37% of householdsKiribati: 0.0349 per 100 people, 3.71% of householdsKorea, Rep.: 47.8 per 100 people, 31.8% of householdsLao PDR: 2.72 per 100 people, 3.18% of householdsLiberia: 0.275 per 100 people, 12% of householdsSt. Lucia: 13.6 per 100 people, 26.8% of householdsLesotho: 0.379 per 100 people, 18% of householdsLithuania: 27.8 per 100 people, 31.7% of householdsLuxembourg: 40.3 per 100 people, 33.3% of householdsLatvia: 25.8 per 100 people, 41.1% of householdsMacao SAR, China: 29.9 per 100 people, 15.1% of householdsMorocco: 7.3 per 100 people, 7.2% of householdsMoldova: 29.6 per 100 people, 22.6% of householdsMadagascar: 0.124 per 100 people, 7.11% of householdsMaldives: 19.6 per 100 people, 4.49% of householdsMexico: 21.7 per 100 people, 10.1% of householdsNorth Macedonia: 29.9 per 100 people, 11.8% of householdsMali: 0.774 per 100 people, 3.11% of householdsMalta: 44.5 per 100 people, 22.6% of householdsMyanmar: 2.87 per 100 people, 5.35% of householdsMontenegro: 32.3 per 100 people, 15.4% of householdsMongolia: 15.8 per 100 people, 8.96% of householdsMozambique: 0.142 per 100 people, 8.41% of householdsMauritania: 0.947 per 100 people, 3.97% of householdsMalawi: 0.0864 per 100 people, 7.2% of householdsNamibia: 2.83 per 100 people, 17.4% of householdsNiger: 0.111 per 100 people, 3.19% of householdsNigeria: 0.0787 per 100 people, 14.7% of householdsNorway: 45.2 per 100 people, 39.6% of householdsNepal: 10.1 per 100 people, 4.51% of householdsNew Zealand: 38 per 100 people, 21.9% of householdsPakistan: 1.47 per 100 people, 1.08% of householdsPanama: 18.1 per 100 people, 13.4% of householdsPeru: 11.7 per 100 people, 16.8% of householdsPhilippines: 7.14 per 100 people, 9.18% of householdsPoland: 25.4 per 100 people, 24% of householdsPuerto Rico (US): 28 per 100 people, 23.1% of householdsPortugal: 45.2 per 100 people, 21.4% of householdsParaguay: 12.9 per 100 people, 10.4% of householdsWest Bank and Gaza: 8.16 per 100 people, 4.31% of householdsQatar: 11.8 per 100 people, 6.98% of householdsRomania: 35.8 per 100 people, 26% of householdsRussian Federation: 27.1 per 100 people, 25.7% of householdsRwanda: 0.596 per 100 people, 7.69% of householdsSudan: 0.0604 per 100 people, 1.59% of householdsSenegal: 4.04 per 100 people, 6.92% of householdsSingapore: 27.8 per 100 people, 16.1% of householdsSierra Leone: 0.00227 per 100 people, 6.42% of householdsEl Salvador: 12.5 per 100 people, 8.46% of householdsSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 0.723 per 100 people, 1.53% of householdsSerbia: 33.4 per 100 people, 21.8% of householdsSao Tome and Principe: 2.99 per 100 people, 13.8% of householdsSuriname: 18.8 per 100 people, 14% of householdsSlovak Republic: 33.8 per 100 people, 25.3% of householdsSlovenia: 34.2 per 100 people, 32.6% of householdsEswatini: 2.51 per 100 people, 21.7% of householdsChad: 0 per 100 people, 5.43% of householdsTogo: 1.42 per 100 people, 15.7% of householdsThailand: 14.9 per 100 people, 21.6% of householdsTajikistan: 0.984 per 100 people, 2.88% of householdsTurkmenistan: 5.22 per 100 people, 3.74% of householdsTimor-Leste: 0.006 per 100 people, 6.41% of householdsTonga: 8.17 per 100 people, 6.94% of householdsTunisia: 15 per 100 people, 6.27% of householdsTuvalu: 4.52 per 100 people, 6.92% of householdsTanzania: 0.246 per 100 people, 9.63% of householdsUganda: 0.208 per 100 people, 13.2% of householdsUkraine: 21.7 per 100 people, 25% of householdsUruguay: 33 per 100 people, 17.6% of householdsUnited States: 38.9 per 100 people, 27.9% of householdsViet Nam: 23.7 per 100 people, 10.5% of householdsSamoa: 0.878 per 100 people, 4.4% of householdsSouth Africa: 5.35 per 100 people, 23.8% of householdsZambia: 0.79 per 100 people, 7.97% of householdsZimbabwe: 1.94 per 100 people, 12.9% of householdsAFGBMUFRAGHAHKGIRQLVANORPRTSDNSOMZAF

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.7642.0e-29147
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.7244.1e-25147
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.4865.0e-10147
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.2900.000147

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 147 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: +0.278 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.453 (without QAT) to +0.501 (without LVA). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: QAT (-0.033).

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific22+0.77
Europe & Central Asia39+0.37
Latin America & Caribbean25+0.32
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan12+0.76
Sub-Saharan Africa41+0.28

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third49-0.19
Middle third49+0.16
Richest third49+0.61

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians92+0.37
Muslims36-0.06

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France22-0.26
Never a European colony15+0.70
Spain16+0.23
United Kingdom44+0.38

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.486 after dropping 0 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 0years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

Not enough history inside each country to look at this over time. That needs countries measured for several years in a row, and at least one of these measures is measured too rarely.

The data


per 100 people
% of households		Years
Bermuda BMU51.334.1%2024, 2016
France FRA48.935.5%2024, 2015
Korea, Rep. KOR47.831.8%2024, 2020
Germany DEU45.637.3%2024, 2011
Portugal PRT45.221.4%2024, 2011
Norway NOR45.239.6%2024, 2011
Greece GRC44.725.7%2024, 2011
Malta MLT44.522.6%2024, 2011
Belgium BEL44.234%2024, 2011
Canada CAN42.528.2%2024, 2016
United Kingdom GBR42.230.6%2024, 2011
Luxembourg LUX40.333.3%2024, 2011
Hong Kong SAR, China HKG40.318.3%2024, 2016
Spain ESP39.223.2%2024, 2011
Czechia CZE38.932.5%2024, 2011

World Bank, World Development Indicators
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). Database on Household Size and Composition 2022.

Sources

Fixed broadband

Fixed broadband subscriptions (per 100 people)

International Telecommunication Union · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

Subscriptions, not people. A household line counts once, however many people use it. A country that went straight to mobile data can be well connected with few of these lines. Internet users, already on the site, is the measure of people.

One-person households

Share of one-person households

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division · via Our World in Data · CC BY 3.0 IGO · updated irregular (2017, 2019 and 2022 editions)

Households of one person, from the same UN collection as the single-parent share and with the same limits: one to three readings per country, from sources that sort households differently, and few after 2019. It rises with age and with income, and falls with family size. That is three different things in one number. No "better" direction is set.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2024. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Fixed broadband and One-person households

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Fixed broadband changes One-person households, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Fixed broadband or One-person households