Single-person households are more satisfied with their lives, and their financial assets have shifted from savings and time deposits to investment assets such as stocks and ETFs, a report showed.

KB Financial Group said on Saturday it published the "2026 Korea Single-Person Household Report". The report is the seventh since its first publication in 2017. It covers single-person households' life satisfaction, lifestyle, financial life, job trends and consumption trends.

Life satisfaction among single-person households stood at 73.5 percent, up 2.3 percentage points from 2024, the report showed. The share saying they intend to continue living alone was 58.3 percent. In detailed satisfaction, space and environment ranked first at 79.5 percent, followed by leisure life at 74.8 percent, human relationships at 62.4 percent and economic power at 51.4 percent.

The most common reason for wanting to continue living alone was that "it is comfortable to live alone", at 61.4 percent. The biggest current concern was "economic stability" at 24.0 percent, while the biggest future concern was "health" at 25.7 percent.

In financial life, the report showed a flow of funds moving from safe assets to investment assets.

In single-person households' financial asset portfolios, the share of savings and time deposits was 28.3 percent, down 7.8 percentage points from two years earlier. The share of stocks and ETFs rose 6.1 percentage points to 21.1 percent, and the share of crypto assets increased 1.3 percentage points to 3.5 percent.

Experience of investing in financial products using loans also increased. Among loan holders, 34.0 percent said they had invested in financial products through loans, up 5.2 percentage points from 28.8 percent in 2024.

In job trends, participation in so-called N-job activities, meaning side income work outside a main job, increased. The participation rate in N-job activities among single-person households was 59.6 percent, up 17.6 percentage points from 42.0 percent in 2022.

In consumption trends, the report confirmed a flow that emphasizes planning, practicality and personal preference. In a survey of consumption tendencies, "value for money first" was 55.4 percent, "subjective preference first" was 51.1 percent and "planned consumption" was 47.2 percent. By contrast, "impulsive consumption" was 24.1 percent, "brand and trust first" was 19.0 percent and "quality and completeness first" was 16.2 percent.

KB Financial's Management Research Institute said, "Single-person households are no longer a temporary phenomenon limited to a specific generation, but a form of life." It said, "This report is meaningful in that it sheds light on single-person households not simply by demographic classification, but as actors who actively design their lives across work, consumption and overall asset management."