Loneliness in older people: the statistics

Figures on loneliness in later life can look contradictory. Is it 1 in 20 older people, or 1 in 3? Both can be right, depending on the question. Here are the most useful figures, where each comes from, and where the evidence is limited.

We checked every figure against its original source in October 2026, and we've left out any we couldn't verify. If you're here because you're worried about a parent rather than writing a report, our guides to the signs of loneliness in elderly parents and how to help a lonely elderly parent are more practical places to start.

Loneliness and isolation are not the same

The US National Institute on Aging (NIA) defines loneliness as the distressing feeling of being alone or separated, and social isolation as a lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly. You can live alone and not feel lonely, and you can feel lonely while surrounded by people. Many figures below measure one or the other, so it's worth keeping the difference in mind.

How common is loneliness in older people?

Worldwide

In June 2025, the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Connection published its flagship report, From loneliness to social connection. It estimates that between 2014 and 2023, about 16% of people worldwide reported being lonely, almost one person in six.

Loneliness was highest among adolescents (20.9% of 13 to 17 year olds) and lowest among older people: 11.8% of people aged 60 and over. Among older adults, the estimated rate was 13.0% for women and 9.9% for men.

Social isolation is more common in later life. The report's best estimates are that 25.0% to 33.6% of older people worldwide are socially isolated, based on studies from 1990 to 2022. It notes that these estimates come from two meta-analyses covering 27 countries, only six of them low- or middle-income, so there are big gaps.

United States

• AARP (December 2025): 40% of US adults aged 45 and over said they were lonely, up from 35% in both 2010 and 2018. Men reported higher loneliness than women (42% vs 37%), and the youngest people in the 45-plus group had the highest rates. Lonely adults spent an average of 7.3 hours a day alone, compared with 5.6 hours for the 45-plus population overall. The survey of 3,276 adults was carried out by Ipsos in August 2025.
• National Poll on Healthy Aging (December 2024): the University of Michigan poll, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 33% of adults aged 50 to 80 felt lonely some of the time or often in 2024, about the same as in 2018 (34%). 29% felt isolated, up slightly from 27%. During the pandemic, loneliness reached as high as 42%, and 56% reported feeling isolated in the early months.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2020): approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated.
• All adults: the US Surgeon General's 2023 advisory said recent surveys found approximately half of US adults reported experiencing loneliness. The CDC, using 2022 survey data from 39 states, Washington DC and two territories, puts it at about 1 in 3 adults.

United Kingdom

• England, 2025/26: the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Community and Engagement Survey found that 7% of people aged 16 and over felt lonely often or always, with no significant change from the year before. Rates were 6% for ages 50 to 64, 4% for 65 to 74 and 5% for 75 and over. Fieldwork for these questions ran from October 2025 to March 2026.
• Age UK (December 2024): using the UK Household Longitudinal Study, Age UK estimated that 7% of people aged 65 and over in the UK, about 940,000 people, are often lonely. It projects 1.2 million people over 65 in England will often feel lonely by 2034. From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, it estimated that 270,000 people aged 65 and over in England go a week without speaking to a friend or family member.
• Great Britain, 2023: the Campaign to End Loneliness, analysing Office for National Statistics data, reported that 7.1% of adults, about 3.83 million people, feel lonely often or always, up from 6% in 2020.

Who is most at risk?

Age on its own is not the main driver. What matters more is what tends to come with age: losing a partner, health problems, living alone and fewer chances to get out.

• Bereavement. Age UK's 2018 analysis found that people over 50 were more than five times as likely to be often lonely if they were widowed, compared with those in a relationship. The ONS identified "widowed older homeowners living alone with long-term health conditions" as one of three groups most at risk. See our guide to helping a parent after the death of a spouse.
• Poor health and disability. In England, 14% of disabled people felt lonely often or always in 2025/26, compared with 3% of non-disabled people. In the US poll, 75% of adults aged 50 to 80 with fair or poor mental health and 53% with fair or poor physical health reported loneliness in 2024.
• Living alone. The ONS counted 4.3 million people aged 65 and over living alone in the UK in 2024, just over half (51.1%) of everyone living alone. Many people who live alone are not lonely, but it raises the risk.
• Other risk factors. The NIA lists hearing and vision problems, loss of mobility, memory problems, financial struggles, lack of transport, caring for a loved one who is unwell, language barriers and discrimination among the factors that raise risk. The National Academies highlight LGBT, minority and immigrant older adults, and the WHO notes that marginalised groups are more likely to experience social disconnection.

Health effects

Most of the health figures below come from long-term studies that follow people over time. They show strong associations. Loneliness and poor health feed each other, so it isn't always possible to say which came first.

• Deaths. The WHO estimates loneliness is linked to about 871,000 deaths a year worldwide, based on 2014 to 2019, or about 100 every hour.
• Early death. The Surgeon General's advisory says loneliness and social isolation increase the risk of premature death by 26% and 29% respectively, and that lacking social connection can increase that risk as much as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
• Heart disease and stroke. Poor or insufficient social connection is associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke (Surgeon General, 2023).
• Dementia. Chronic loneliness and social isolation can increase the risk of developing dementia by approximately 50% in older adults, and one study following older adults for 12 years found cognitive abilities declined 20% faster among those who reported loneliness (Surgeon General, 2023).
• Mood. The WHO says lonely people are twice as likely to become depressed. Age UK found that 9 in 10 older people who are often lonely are also unhappy or depressed, compared with 4 in 10 of those who are hardly ever lonely.
• Healthcare use and cost. The NIA says people who are socially isolated or lonely are more likely to be admitted to the emergency room or a nursing home. The Surgeon General's advisory estimates social isolation among older adults accounts for $6.7 billion in excess Medicare spending each year.

What helps?

The evidence on what works is growing, but it's honest to say it is still patchy. The WHO Commission's 2025 report concludes that:

• Promising individual and relationship approaches generally have small-to-moderate effects on loneliness and social isolation.
• Psychological interventions hold the most promise for loneliness, although the single most effective approach can't be identified, and what works differs between groups.
• Digital technology can play an important role, but more research is needed on how well it works and on its risks, particularly for new technologies such as AI and virtual reality.
• Community approaches, including social prescribing, show some benefits, but reviews say the evidence isn't yet robust enough to draw conclusions.

The WHO's healthy ageing work lists social skills training, community and support groups, befriending and cognitive behavioural therapy as approaches that can help older people, alongside better transport and access to communication technology. The NIA notes that meaningful activities with others, such as volunteering, are linked to better mood and wellbeing, and that hearing loss can lead people to withdraw, so a hearing check is worth arranging. Contact frequency matters too: Age UK found that older people who go a week without speaking to friends or family are almost three times more likely to be lonely than those who speak to them more often.

For a look at where technology fits, including the honest case for and against, read is AI companionship good for older people? and our comparison of AI companions for seniors.

What the numbers mean, and their limits

Different questions give different answers

Some surveys ask directly, "How often do you feel lonely?" Others use indirect scales, asking how often people lack companionship, feel left out or feel isolated, and add up the answers. Some count only "often or always", others include "some of the time". That's why England's 5% for people aged 75 and over and the US poll's 33% for people aged 50 to 80 can both be accurate.

Age groups vary

"Older" can mean 45 and over (AARP), 50 to 80 (the Michigan poll), 60 and over (WHO) or 65 and over (Age UK, National Academies). Comparing figures across age bands can mislead.

Places and years differ

The Community and Engagement Survey covers England only. WHO figures pool many countries with very different data. Several surveys were affected by the pandemic, when loneliness rose sharply and then fell back.

Who gets asked

Household surveys often miss people in care homes and hospitals, and people who find surveys hard because of hearing, memory or language. These may be among the loneliest, so totals may be underestimates.

Association is not cause

Health figures are usually relative increases in risk, not absolute chances. A 29% higher risk of heart disease doesn't mean 29% of lonely people will develop it.

Summary table

Figures checked against the sources in October 2026. The National Poll on Healthy Aging figures are from a JAMA research letter, "Loneliness and Social Isolation Among US Older Adults, 2018-2024"; we link to a news report because the journal page wasn't accessible to us.

How to cite this page

You're welcome to link to or quote this page. Where you can, cite the original source for each figure as well, since that's where the full method is described. A suggested citation:

The Dottie team (2026). Loneliness in older people: the statistics. Dottie. Updated 26 October 2026. https://dottiechat.com/guides/loneliness-in-older-people-statistics

If you spot a figure that has been updated, or an error, please let us know through our contact page and we'll correct it.

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