The report, published on Thursday by the national population institute INED,  found that while 6.1 percent of people were living alone in 1962, the number had risen to 14.2 percent, or one in seven people, by 2007. 

That equates to around nine million people living on their own.

Women are more likely than men to be living solo, explained in part by the fact that longer life expectancy means that women tend to outlive men.

By age 80, the proportion of women living on their own has reached 55 percent.

Women also tend to leave home earlier than men with slightly more living alone at age 20.

Divorce figures also tell part of the story, with around 128,000 in 2009 compared to just 30,000 in 1960.

The authors of the study, Sophie Pennec and Laurent Toulemon, also found that people tended to settle down later.

“Between 1982 and 2007, the delay in starting life together as a couple has led to a doubling of the proportion of young people who live alone.”

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