Contents
- Single person household cooking statistics: how often people living alone cook
- Single person household cooking statistics: home-cooked meals eaten by solo households
- Single person household cooking statistics: regional cooking rates for one-person households
- Single person household cooking statistics: who shops and prepares meals in solo households
- Single person household cooking statistics: fast-food purchases among solo-household purchasers
- Sources
Single person household cooking statistics: how often people living alone cook
People living alone reported cooking at home regularly in the global Cookpad/Gallup survey, but cooking and eating at home were counted separately. The cooking measure represents meals the respondent personally cooked at home during the previous 7 days. The household-size trend reports these weekly averages for respondents in one-person households:
| Year | Meals personally cooked at home per week |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 8.6 |
| 2019 | 7.9 |
| 2020 | 8.7 |
| 2021 | 7.9 |
| 2022 | 8.1 |
The measured values moved within a relatively narrow band across these 5 years, from 7.9 to 8.7 meals per week. The series does not show a steady year-by-year rise or fall: it dipped in 2019, reached its listed high in 2020, dipped again in 2021, and stood at 8.1 in 2022. Those are respondent-reported averages, not a count of unique cooking occasions or a claim that every person cooked that many times.
There is a discrepancy within the report for the latest years. Its Figure 12 trend gives 7.9 meals cooked per week in 2021 and 8.1 in 2022, while narrative text gives an average of 6.7 meals per week since 2021. The table above follows the figure’s labeled one-person row and solid cooking line; the conflicting narrative means these values should be read with care. Source: Cookpad/Gallup, A Global Analysis of Cooking Around the World: Year 5, Figure 12, p. 23
Single person household cooking statistics: home-cooked meals eaten by solo households
A separate measure tracks home-cooked meals eaten at home. It is not interchangeable with the number of meals a respondent personally cooked: people may eat food prepared by someone else, and the survey reports the two measures as distinct lines. For one-person households globally, the Figure 12 series is:
| Year | Home-cooked meals eaten per week |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 7.9 |
| 2019 | 6.9 |
| 2020 | 6.7 |
| 2021 | 6.8 |
| 2022 | 7.0 |
The reported average fell from 7.9 in 2018 to 6.7 in 2020, then registered 6.8 in 2021 and 7.0 in 2022. These are global survey averages for respondents living alone, expressed as meals per week. The report’s household-size narrative also characterizes people living alone as eating the fewest home-cooked meals and gives an average of 7.9 meals per week in 2022. That narrative value differs from Figure 12’s 2022 one-person value of 7.0; the figure is the source for the year-by-year series shown here.
The two figures in this section should therefore be understood as reported evidence from different parts of the same report, not silently combined into one trend. The chart specifies the one-person row and the dotted line for meals eaten at home; the narrative supplies the separate 2022 statement. Neither measure says how many meals were eaten outside the home. Source: Cookpad/Gallup, A Global Analysis of Cooking Around the World: Year 5, Figure 12 and “Household size” narrative, p. 23
Single person household cooking statistics: regional cooking rates for one-person households
The 2022 regional figures show that cooking frequency among one-person households varied across the regions reported. Each value below is an average number of meals cooked at home per week by Cookpad/Gallup respondents living alone.
| Region | Meals cooked at home per week, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Central and Western Asia | 6.7 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 8.7 |
| Southern Asia | 8.0 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 6.8 |
Latin America and the Caribbean’s reported 8.7 was described in the report as the highest cooking-at-home rate for single-person households in that region’s household-composition comparison. Southern Asia’s one-person households were reported to cook 8.0 meals per week. In Central and Western Asia, the figure was 6.7; the report also gives 5.9 for two-person households in that regional comparison. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the one-person value was 6.8, while households with 8 or more people averaged 5.1 meals cooked each week.
These comparisons retain the report’s regional scope and weekly meal unit. The figures do not establish why rates differ between regions, and the selected regional values do not form a complete ranking of all regions. They describe survey responses for 2022, rather than current-year cooking habits. Source: Cookpad/Gallup, A Global Analysis of Cooking Around the World: Year 5, Central and Western Asia, p. 58; Latin America and the Caribbean, p. 64; Southern Asia, p. 72; Sub-Saharan Africa, p. 74
Southern Asia’s report also gives an eating measure: respondents in one-person households ate an average of 8.7 home-cooked meals per week in 2022. This is distinct from the 8.0 meals they reported preparing at home. The difference in the reported measures illustrates why cooking frequency and home-cooked meals eaten should be kept separate when describing solo-household food routines. Source: Cookpad/Gallup, A Global Analysis of Cooking Around the World: Year 5, Southern Asia narrative, p. 72
Single person household cooking statistics: who shops and prepares meals in solo households
U.S. survey data offer a view of household roles, rather than weekly meal counts. In 2014, adults age 18 and older who were respondents in single-person households were asked whether they usually did the household grocery shopping. The table reports “Yes” for 94.1% overall, including 95.6% of men and 92.8% of women. “No” was reported by 5.9% overall, 4.4% of men and 7.2% of women.
| Usually did household grocery shopping, 2014 | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 94.1% | 95.6% | 92.8% |
| No | 5.9% | 4.4% | 7.2% |
The same report asked about usual meal preparation. Among respondents in single-person households, 95.0% overall said they usually prepared meals; the reported shares were 95.6% for men and 94.6% for women. The “No” responses were 5.0% overall, 4.4% for men and 5.4% for women.
| Usually prepared meals, 2014 | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 95.0% | 95.6% | 94.6% |
| No | 5.0% | 4.4% | 5.4% |
These are self-reported usual roles, not measures of how often someone shopped or cooked, how much time they spent, or what they ate. The household category is based on the survey respondent; it refers to adults age 18 and older in single-person households in the 2014 ATUS/Eating & Health Module data. Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Americans’ Eating Patterns and Time Spent on Food: The 2014 Eating & Health Module Data, EIB-158, Appendix Tables 4 and 9
Single person household cooking statistics: fast-food purchases among solo-household purchasers
The USDA report’s purchase estimates are conditional on respondents having purchased prepared deli, carryout, delivery or fast food. They do not describe all adults in single-person households. Among U.S. respondents age 18 and older who made such purchases in 2014, the average number of purchases in the previous 7 days was 3.0 overall: 3.5 for men and 2.6 for women.
The distribution below shows how many purchases these solo-household purchasers reported during that 7-day period. The percentages are reported separately for total respondents, men and women.
| Purchases in previous 7 days | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31.5% | 24.7% | 38.0% |
| 2 | 23.8% | 22.8% | 24.7% |
| 3 | 17.2% | 18.8% | 15.6% |
| 4 | 8.7% | 9.0% | 8.5% |
| 5 | 7.3% | 8.9% | 5.9% |
| 6 | 1.4% | 2.1% | 0.7% |
| 7 | 5.5% | 7.1% | 3.9% |
| 8 or more | 4.7% | 6.7% | 2.7% |
One purchase was the most commonly reported bin overall and among women, while the average purchase count was higher among men than women. The table also shows respondents across every listed frequency category, including 8 or more purchases in the previous week. These are distribution shares among purchasers; they should not be read as the proportion of all people living alone who bought fast food. The report groups prepared deli, carryout and delivery foods with fast food for this measure, so “fast-food purchases” here follows that broader survey definition. Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Americans’ Eating Patterns and Time Spent on Food: The 2014 Eating & Health Module Data, EIB-158, Appendix Table 7