Karaoke for one: China’s $1 trillion ‘loneliness economy’ gives a glimpse of the world’s future

Rachel Xia has grown quite used to flying solo in the decade since leaving her hometown of Luoyang in central China.

The 30-year-old Hong Kong resident has no qualms about eating alone, traveling alone and going to the movies alone. In fact, Xia has discovered almost everything in the bustling city can be arranged for one.

Groceries and meals for one are delivered straight to her door. Her late ragdoll cat Mocha was a steadfast emotional companion, waking her in the mornings and greeting her when she came home from work. If she wanted to get something off her chest, she could also turn to AI chatbots .

“It’s super convenient right now for people to live alone,” she said. “Most things I can think of, I’ve had the experience of doing on my own.”

Xia is part of a growing cohort fast reshaping the profile of the Asian consumer: people who are single, childless or otherwise living alone.

The traditional metrics of success in many Asian nations – marriage, children and home ownership – have lost their appeal among younger generations, as costs of housing and education have risen and social expectations have changed.

Across the region, birth rates are falling to record lows . Governments are dangling cash and subsidies to encourage couples to have children to shore up future workforces, with little success.

However, the problem comes with an economic silver lining: even as populations shrink, consumers living alone are spending more on themselves.

The rise of single-person households in countries like Japan, South Korea and China is creating what’s been dubbed the “loneliness economy” or “solo economy.”

Instead of buying diapers or bulk groceries, individuals are splurging on pets, collectible toys and new experiences. Businesses have noticed, and are cashing in by helping them build a world for one.

“They have really high fixed costs. They don’t have a partner or other family members to share this,” said Ming-Hsuan Lee, a professor at the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, who has researched spending patterns of single consumers in Asia.

“But on the other hand, we find single people like to invest in themselves. They show higher expenditures in travel and dining out, and personal improvement, like education or leisure.”

While doing things alone often means paying more, Xia enjoys the freedom to follow her own schedule and preferences.

It wasn’t until her cat died last year that she began to question whether she could remain single forever.

“It made me question more about what kind of life I’m looking for,” she said. “Am I really okay to live this isolated kind of life for the rest of my life?”

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In China, which recently lost its title as the world’s most populous nation to India, the solo economy is thriving.

Miniature karaoke kiosks the size of old-school phone booths have popped up around the country to cater to lone crooners. Single travelers can hire hiking partners, sightseeing companions or personal photographers at tourist destinations.

Chinese research firm Discovery Reports estimates the singles economy reached more than $1 trillion in China in 2025, an increase of about 50% when compared with 2023.

Consumer analysts say singles are also spending more on video games, AI companions and micro-dramas, soap opera-like shows with episodes under two minutes.

“When you’re back home from work and it’s 10 p.m. and you’ve already eaten, if you had a husband or wife, you would talk to them,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China market consultancy ChoZan.

“If that companionship is missing, you are left with subscriptions to games, to streaming, and that is a huge, huge trend that is reshaping the way people entertain themselves.”

Dudarenok said that China’s vast and competitive consumer market could accelerate the development of products and services for people living alone and eventually export them to the rest of the world.

AI companions and micro-dramas have already gained traction in the US. Companies there are also increasingly courting solo diners . Domino’s Pizza announced recently it would begin offering small rectangular pies designed for one.

Previously, businesses and governments typically treated singledom as a temporary stage before marriage, Dudarenok points out.

“We need to start thinking about single living and this new economic model as something that is here to stay,” she said.

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Rather than marketing to lonely souls , brands have chosen to emphasize independence over isolation.

“There’s a lot of messaging about empowerment and individuality,” said Allison Malmsten, marketing director at Daxue Consulting, a China-focused research firm.

“That is more likely to resonate with consumers, because they don’t want to see themselves as lonely. They see themselves as still being very social and having very fulfilling life experiences.”

Still, concerns are mounting in the region over the effects of loneliness on people’s health. Both Japan and South Korea have struggled to tackle their comparatively high suicide rates across generations, sparking soul-searching, debate and policies.

In Seoul, authorities have allocated millions of dollars to provide counseling, social activities and other services to alleviate alienation. In 2021, Japan appointed a Minister of Loneliness and Isolation to address the impact on people’s mental health.

For some, pets have become a way to fill an emotional void.

Singles are increasingly traveling with their pets or buying them luxury gifts, said Malmsten. In 2017, Chinese households had twice as many toddlers as pets, she added, but by 2030 that ratio is expected to reverse.

Ellen Xie, a 35-year-old live comedy producer, said her lifestyle as a single “cat lady” is commonplace among her circle in Shanghai. Nearly all her single friends have cats, she said, and one has a dog. None like to cook, so when they catch up, they order their own meals and ponder what their lives will look like as they grow older.

Some still want to get married; others don’t. For now, Xie is content with her two cats. Being unattached also makes it easier to take impromptu trips, like when she flew to Japan on a whim in May.

“Sometimes I go to a new country or a new place, and I would just say, wow, I’m glad I’m not married,” she said. “Those kinds of experiences are kind of special and also can maybe only be done when I’m single.”

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Xie and her friends do harbor some reservations about retirement, given another consequence of the demographic change: the growing number of elderly could outnumber younger populations in the coming decades.

Chinese state media estimates the country’s “silver economy,” or products and services for senior citizens, will reach more than $4 trillion by 2035 as the market tailors new technology to accompany and care for older generations. A daily check-in app for people living alone went viral earlier this year, in part for its bleak name: “ Are You Dead? ”

Traditionally, multiple generations of Chinese families have lived together, and part of the motivation for having children has been to ensure elders are cared for in old age. But Xie trusts that in the future, “old ladies” like her will have more options to cohabitate and live economically.

“We can maybe form temporary families together,” she said. “Because of demand, as long as our population grows bigger, some company will want to make money out of this.”

Xiao Hanyu, a graduate student in the southern city of Shenzhen, is still afraid of growing old alone. But he said new services and technology have enabled him to stay single for longer than he might have otherwise.

An abundance of youth hostels allow him to travel affordably by himself and single-player games fill the hours between his studies. In the past three months, he’s begun sharing late-night musings with his AI assistant.

Thanks to the solo economy, the 26-year-old feels he can be more selective in choosing the ideal companion.

“If I didn’t have the conveniences of modern-day life to fulfill my needs, would I be more determined to find a partner to fulfill them?” said Xiao, who has been single for eight years.

自从十年前离开位于中国中部洛阳的家乡以来，Rachel Xia已经相当习惯独自飞行了。

这位30岁的香港居民并不介意独自吃饭、独自旅行、独自看电影。事实上，夏发现，在这个繁华都市里，几乎所有事情都可以一个人安排好。

食品杂货和单人餐食会直接送到她家门口。她已故的布偶猫摩卡是她忠实的情感伴侣，每天早上叫醒她，在她下班回家时迎接她。如果她想倾诉心事，也可以向人工智能聊天机器人寻求帮助。

“现在独居真的很方便，”她说。“我能想到的很多事情，我都自己做过。”

Xia 是正在迅速改变亚洲消费者形象的日益壮大的群体中的一员：单身、无子女或独居人士。

在许多亚洲国家，传统的成功标准——婚姻、子女和住房——对年轻一代已经失去了吸引力，因为住房和教育成本上升，社会期望也发生了变化。

整个地区的出生率正降至历史新低。各国政府纷纷提供现金和补贴，鼓励夫妇生育子女以充实未来的劳动力，但收效甚微。

然而，这个问题也带来了一线经济效益：即使人口减少，独居消费者也会在自己身上花更多的钱。

日本、韩国和中国等国家单人家庭的兴起，正在催生所谓的“孤独经济”或“独行经济”。

人们不再购买尿布或大宗食品杂货，而是把钱花在宠物、收藏玩具和新奇体验上。商家们注意到了这一趋势，并通过帮助人们打造“一人世界”来从中获利。

“他们的固定支出非常高。他们没有伴侣或其他家庭成员来分担这些支出，”台湾中山大学教授李明轩说道，他曾研究过亚洲单身消费者的消费模式。

“但另一方面，我们发现单身人士更喜欢投资自己。他们在旅行、外出就餐以及个人提升（例如教育或休闲娱乐）方面的支出更高。”

虽然独自做事通常意味着要付出更多，但夏很享受按照自己的时间安排和喜好行事的自由。

直到去年她的猫去世后，她才开始思考自己是否能永远单身。

“这让我更加思考我想要什么样的生活，”她说。“我真的能接受余生都过这种与世隔绝的生活吗？”

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中国最近失去了世界人口最多国家的头衔，被印度超越，但中国单一经济体却蓬勃发展。

为了满足独自唱歌的人们的需求，全国各地涌现出许多小型卡拉OK亭，大小和老式电话亭差不多。单身旅行者还可以在旅游景点雇佣徒步伙伴、观光同伴或私人摄影师。

中国市场研究公司Discovery Reports估计，到2025年，中国单身人士经济规模将超过1万亿美元，比2023年增长约50%。

消费者分析师表示，单身人士在电子游戏、人工智能伴侣和微型剧（每集时长不到两分钟的肥皂剧式节目）上的花费也越来越多。

“当你下班回家，已经是晚上 10 点，吃过饭了，如果你有丈夫或妻子，你会和他们聊天，”中国市场咨询公司 ChoZan 的创始人 Ashley Dudarenok 说。

“如果缺少了陪伴，人们就只能订阅游戏、观看流媒体服务了，而这正是一个巨大的趋势，它正在重塑人们的娱乐方式。”

杜达列诺克表示，中国庞大且竞争激烈的消费市场可以加速独居人士产品和服务的发展，并最终将其出口到世界其他地区。

人工智能伴侣和微剧在美国已经颇受欢迎。当地企业也越来越重视单人用餐者。达美乐披萨最近宣布，将开始提供专为一人份设计的小块长方形披萨。

杜达列诺克指出，以前，企业和政府通常将单身视为结婚前的过渡阶段。

“我们需要开始认真考虑单身生活和这种新的经济模式，并将其视为一种长期存在的现象，”她说。

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品牌不再以孤独的人群为目标进行营销，而是选择强调独立而非孤立。

“有很多关于赋权和个性的信息，”专注于中国市场的研究公司大雪咨询的市场总监艾莉森·马尔姆斯坦说。

“这更容易引起消费者的共鸣，因为他们不想觉得自己孤独。他们认为自己仍然非常善于社交，拥有非常充实的生活体验。”

然而，该地区对孤独对人们健康的影响日益担忧。日本和韩国都一直在努力解决其相对较高的跨代自杀率问题，这引发了深刻的反思、辩论和政策制定。

在首尔，政府已拨款数百万美元，用于提供心理咨询、社交活动和其他服务，以缓解民众的孤独感。2021年，日本任命了一位孤独与隔离事务大臣，专门负责处理孤独对民众心理健康的影响。

对一些人来说，宠物已经成为填补情感空虚的一种方式。

马尔姆斯坦表示，单身人士越来越倾向于带着宠物旅行或给宠物购买奢侈品。她补充说，2017年中国家庭中幼儿的数量是宠物数量的两倍，但预计到2030年，这一比例将会发生逆转。

35岁的喜剧制作人谢爱伦表示，像她这样单身养猫的生活方式在上海的社交圈里很常见。她说，她几乎所有的单身朋友都养猫，还有一个养狗。她们都不喜欢做饭，所以聚会时都会各自点外卖，然后一起思考自己年老后的生活会是什么样子。

有些人仍然想结婚，有些人则不想。目前，谢女士对和她的两只猫在一起的生活感到很满足。单身也让她更容易进行说走就走的旅行，比如五月份她一时兴起就飞去了日本。

“有时候我去到一个新的国家或新的地方，我会想，哇，我真庆幸自己还没结婚，”她说。“那种经历很特别，而且可能只有单身的时候才能体验到。”

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谢和她的朋友们对退休确实有些顾虑，因为人口结构变化还会带来另一个后果：未来几十年，老年人口的数量可能会超过年轻人口。

中国官方媒体估计，到2035年，中国的“银发经济”（即面向老年人的产品和服务）规模将超过4万亿美元，因为市场正在调整技术以陪伴和照顾老年人。今年早些时候，一款面向独居人士的每日签到应用程序迅速走红，部分原因是其略带阴郁的名字：“你死了吗？”

传统上，中国家庭几代人共同生活，生育子女的部分原因是为了确保长辈晚年有人照顾。但谢女士相信，未来像她这样的“老太太”会有更多同居和经济实惠的生活选择。

“我们或许可以组成临时家庭，”她说。“因为有需求，只要我们的人口增长，就会有公司想从中赚钱。”

来自深圳的研究生肖涵宇仍然害怕孤独终老。但他表示，新的服务和科技让他能够比以往更长时间地保持单身。

青年旅舍林立，让他能够经济实惠地独自旅行，而单人游戏则填补了他学习之余的空闲时间。过去三个月里，他开始与自己的人工智能助手分享深夜思考。

得益于单身经济，这位 26 岁的年轻人觉得他可以更挑剔地选择理想的伴侣。

“如果我没有现代生活的便利来满足我的需求，我会不会更坚定地寻找一个伴侣来满足这些需求呢？”单身八年的肖说道。