Contents
- Household microwave ownership statistics: Ireland’s household trend, 2004–2019
- Household microwave ownership statistics: Singapore’s quinquennial benchmarks
- household microwave ownership: Microwave ownership by household tenure, size, and age in England
- Household microwave ownership statistics in South Africa: national and residence figures
- household microwave ownership: Microwave ownership in Australia, India, and Thailand: survey benchmarks
- Sources
Household microwave ownership statistics: Ireland’s household trend, 2004–2019
Ireland’s annual household series shows microwave ownership rising from 81.7% in 2004 to 91.8% in 2019. The figures are percentages of households, and the sequence provides a year-by-year view rather than a single comparison between distant survey years. Ownership increased through the middle of the period, reached 90.7% in 2010, and then remained close to 90% or above for the years reported here. Source: Ireland’s SILC household amenities report
| Year | Households with a microwave |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 81.7% |
| 2005 | 85% |
| 2006 | 86.7% |
| 2007 | 87.9% |
| 2008 | 88.7% |
| 2009 | 89.6% |
| 2010 | 90.7% |
| 2011 | 90% |
| 2012 | 91.7% |
| 2013 | 90.6% |
| 2014 | 90.9% |
| 2015 | 90.7% |
| 2016 | 91.6% |
| 2017 | 91.6% |
| 2018 | 91.7% |
| 2019 | 91.8% |
This pattern is best read as a broad increase followed by a high, fairly steady range. The annual values do not rise in every successive year: the series dips from 90.7% in 2010 to 90% in 2011, and from 91.7% in 2012 to 90.6% in 2013. Later values sit between 90.6% and 91.8%. That distinction matters when describing a long trend: the endpoints show a higher reported share in 2019 than in 2004, while the intervening observations include small reversals as well as increases. Source: Ireland’s SILC household amenities report
Household microwave ownership statistics: Singapore’s quinquennial benchmarks
Singapore’s selected consumer-durables series reports microwave oven ownership or availability as a percentage at 5-year intervals. The reported share was 21.9% in 1993, 38.5% in 1998, and 54.8% in 2003. It then reached 61.2% in 2008 and 63.3% in 2013. The later observations are 62.1% in 2018 and 65.5% in 2023. These are historical household benchmarks, not a current estimate. Source: Singapore Department of Statistics, Ownership/Availability of Selected Consumer Durables/Service, Quinquennial
| Year | Microwave oven ownership/availability |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 21.9% |
| 1998 | 38.5% |
| 2003 | 54.8% |
| 2008 | 61.2% |
| 2013 | 63.3% |
| 2018 | 62.1% |
| 2023 | 65.5% |
The quinquennial values rise at each reported point from 1993 through 2013, then move down to 62.1% in 2018 before reaching 65.5% in 2023. Because observations are 5 years apart, this series does not show what happened in each intervening year. Its measure is described as ownership/availability, so that wording is retained rather than treating it as a count of appliances or a measure of use. The source notes that its older 1972/73–1992/93 data exclude one-person households; the figures shown here begin in 1993 and are presented as the later benchmarks in the series. Source: Singapore Department of Statistics
household microwave ownership: Microwave ownership by household tenure, size, and age in England
England’s Energy Follow Up Survey (EFUS) 2011 reported the percentage of each household group with a microwave. By tenure, the figures were 83% among owner-occupied households, 79% among private-rented households, 86% among local-authority households, and 81% among RSL households. The survey table also prints sample sizes and 95% confidence intervals for each estimate; the percentages below are the table’s reported group values. RSL is the source’s tenure label. Source: Energy Follow Up Survey 2011, Table 14
| Household tenure in England | With a microwave in 2011 |
|---|---|
| Owner occupied | 83% |
| Private rented | 79% |
| Local Authority | 86% |
| RSL | 81% |
The same table groups households by number of people. Ownership was 80% among one-person households, 83% among 2-person households, 85% among 3-person households, 82% among 4-person households, and 87% among households with 5 or more people. The values do not form a strictly rising sequence with household size: the 4-person group is reported at 82%, below the 3-person group’s 85%, while the 5-or-more group is at 87%. This is a set of subgroup estimates for 2011, not a time series. Source: Energy Follow Up Survey 2011, Table 14
| Number of people in household | With a microwave in 2011 |
|---|---|
| 1 | 80% |
| 2 | 83% |
| 3 | 85% |
| 4 | 82% |
| 5 or more | 87% |
The reported age-group observation here concerns households whose household reference person (HRP) was aged 75 or more. In that group, 75% had a microwave in 2011. EFUS defines the result as the percentage of the group with a microwave; it should not be read as the percentage of people aged 75 or more who personally owned one. The source’s detailed table is about England’s housing stock, rather than the whole United Kingdom. Source: Energy Follow Up Survey 2011, Table 14
Household microwave ownership statistics in South Africa: national and residence figures
South Africa’s 2012 household appliance release reports microwave ownership for rural and urban households as well as for the country overall. The national figure was 52.1%; the rural estimate was 25.7%, and the urban estimate was 64.4%. These figures share the same table and year, allowing the residence categories to be read alongside the national result without combining them with a different survey. Source: Statistics South Africa, Household Ownership of Electrical Appliances, 2012, Table 2
| South African household group | Microwave ownership, 2012 |
|---|---|
| Rural | 25.7% |
| Urban | 64.4% |
| South Africa | 52.1% |
A separate national observation comes from the Community Survey 2016. Its Figure 26 reports that 55.9% of households owned a microwave oven. This is an overall percentage from that survey; it does not provide the rural and urban subgroup values in the checked figure. The 2012 and 2016 observations come from different releases and should be kept distinct when discussing the country’s household appliance statistics. Source: Statistics South Africa, Community Survey 2016 in Brief, Figure 26
household microwave ownership: Microwave ownership in Australia, India, and Thailand: survey benchmarks
In Western Australia, 93% of households—reported alongside a count of 804,600—had a microwave oven at the time of the 2009 survey. The source also gives figures for dwellings grouped by gross annual household income: 87% for income below $25,000 and 96% for income of $110,000 or more. These are the lower and upper income-group values quoted in the report; they describe Western Australian dwellings in 2009 and are not Australia-wide estimates. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Household Choices Related to Water and Energy, Western Australia, October 2009
India’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey reported microwave oven ownership among households in its 2024 sample as 1% for rural households, 6% for urban households, and 4% overall. The report describes a sample of 4,321 households and states that it is not statistically representative of all Indian households. Accordingly, these percentages describe surveyed households and should not be presented as national ownership rates. Source: Residential Energy Consumption Patterns and Appliance Ownership in India, Figure 22
The cited Thai census source did not yield a verified microwave-ownership observation for this article. No Thailand estimate is included, so the other survey benchmarks remain tied to the populations, places, and years printed in their respective sources.
Sources
- Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Report on Household Amenities and Access to Services 2004–2019 — Results and Analysis
- Ownership/ Availability Of Selected Consumer Durables/ Service, Quinquennial
- Energy Follow Up Survey 2011: Domestic appliances, cooking and cooling equipment
- Lights, appliances and smart technologies
- The 2010 Population and Housing Census: Whole Kingdom
- Residential Energy Consumption Patterns and Appliance Ownership in India: Insights from a 2024 Household Survey
- Statistical release: Household ownership of electrical appliances, 2012
- Community Survey 2016 in brief
- Household Choices Related to Water and Energy, Western Australia, October 2009
- Household Facilities and Appliances, Household Budget Survey 2015–2016