Loneliness statistics

In England, the number of over-50s experiencing loneliness is set to reach two million by 2025/6. This compares to around 1.4 million in 2016/17 - a 49% increase in 10 years.(1)

Research commissioned by the Eden Project initiative The Big Lunch found that disconnected communities could be costing the UK economy £32 billion every year.(1)

Characteristics of people who are more likely to experience loneliness include: those who are widowed, those with poorer health and those with long-term illness or disability. 43.45% of the group reporting bad or very bad health are often/always lonely.(1)

While higher percentages of older women report loneliness compared to men, a greater number of older men (50+) report moderate to high levels of social isolation.(1)

Research by Sense has shown that up to 50% of disabled people will be lonely on any given day.(1)

• 30.8% of adult carers who had as much social contact as they would like (18+ yrs) in Gloucestershire, which was in line with England (32.5%) in 2018/19.(4)
• 33.4% of adult carers who had as much social contact as they would like (65+ yrs) in Gloucestershire, which was in line with England (34.5%) in 2018/19.(4)

20.37% of adults felt lonely often/always or some of the time in Gloucestershire in 2019/20, which was significantly better than the England rate of 22.26%.(5)

50% of post 16 year olds from the Pupil Wellbeing Survey often felt close to other people often or all of the time in 2022.(2)