Loneliness
UK
Percentage (%)
National indicators of loneliness are not comparable due to different data sources for each country.
For more information on how each country produces measures of loneliness, please see source information below.
Percentage of the population who experience feelings of loneliness most, almost all, or all of the time
Scottish Household Survey
Scottish Government
Scotland
2018
Annual
2018
Derived from people who experienced feelings of loneliness most,almost all, or all of the time in the last week.
Percentage of the population who report they felt lonely often or always
Community Life Survey
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
England
2013/14 - 2018/19
Annual
2013/14
Data based on population who reported they felt lonely often or always. Missings responses and those who reported ‘don’t know’ are excluded from these estimates.
Percentage of the population who showed signs of loneliness
Health Survey Northern Ireland
Department of Health
Northern Ireland
2017/18
Annual
Unknown
Please note, Northern Ireland does not have a national indicator of loneliness, but asks comparable questions to England. The data shown is based on the ELSA measures of loneliness with a 4-item scale.
Percentage of the population who report experiencing factors associated with loneliness
National Survey for Wales: well-being and finances
Welsh Government
Wales
2016/17 - 2017/18
Annual
2016/17
Derived from responses from 6 statements. Responses were combined to produce a scale from 0 to 6 on a number of statements relating to loneliness, where 0 is least lonely and 6 is most lonely. People who have a score of 4 to 6 are considered as being lonely.