Learn About Loneliness

Discover the human side of social isolation and loneliness, a growing challenge in Europe.

About

Loneliness

What is loneliness?
Loneliness is the feeling of lacking meaningful social connections. It differs from social isolation, which describes an objective absence of social relationships. A person can feel lonely even when surrounded by others, while someone who lives alone may not feel lonely at all.

How widespread is loneliness in Europe?
Recent findings show that loneliness is a widespread experience among Europeans. According to an EU-wide pilot survey, 13% of EU citizens felt lonely most of the time within the previous four weeks, with national rates ranging from 9% to 20%. These numbers reveal how loneliness cuts across age, gender, and country boundaries, making it a shared European challenge.

Why does loneliness matter?
Social isolation and loneliness affect not only emotions but also health, society, and the economy. Research shows that social isolation and loneliness are related to greater risks of depression, heart disease, and early mortality. Beyond individual well-being, it is linked to lower trust in institutions, reduced civic participation, and lost economic productivity. These impacts make social connection a public priority, not just a personal one.

  • Fast facts: Research links social isolation and loneliness to mental and physical health problems, including increased risk of depression, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality.
  • Beyond individual well-being, social isolation and loneliness also affects societal outcomes. It is associated with lower institutional trust, reduced political participation, and decreased economic productivity.
  • Social well-being has societal impacts. Economic analyses estimate that loneliness imposes significant costs through healthcare burdens and lost productivity.

How is LONELY-EU addressing loneliness?

Loneliness and social isolation are recognized as among the key social challenges of our time, yet most efforts to address them remain fragmented — developed separately across countries and disciplines. This has led to uneven knowledge, data, and resources across the EU.

LONELY-EU fills this gap by developing a coordinated European framework to understand and monitor social isolation and loneliness. On these pages, we will primarily focus on loneliness in our descriptions. The project brings together scientists, policymakers, and practitioners to identify key predictors and outcomes of loneliness — who is most at risk, what drives disconnection, and which interventions exist throughout Europe. By connecting evidence to action, LONELY-EU helps ensure that no one is left behind in Europe’s social and economic transformations.

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About

Social Isolation

What is social isolation?
Social isolation refers to the objective absence or infrequency of social contact with others. Unlike loneliness, which is the subjective feeling of being disconnected, social isolation describes an observable lack of social interaction, relationships, or participation in community life.

A person can be socially isolated without feeling lonely — for instance, someone who lives alone but feels content. Over time, however, isolation can increase the risk of loneliness, especially in contexts of health decline, unemployment, or limited access to social opportunities.

How common is social isolation in Europe?
Across Europe, millions of people experience some form of social isolation. It is particularly common among older adults, migrants, people living alone, and those facing economic hardship or rural isolation.

Rapid demographic changes, digitalization, and evolving family structures have intensified isolation across the continent. While exact rates vary by country, social isolation remains a significant and growing social concern across Europe.

Why does social isolation matter?
Social isolation is closely related to a person’s health, equality, and social cohesion. Isolation is related to greater risk of mental health problems, cardiovascular disease, and early mortality.

When left unchecked at the societal level, social isolation may erode civic trust, reduce participation in community life, and limit economic productivity. Isolated populations are less likely to engage in local initiatives or democratic processes, and they contribute to higher healthcare costs and workplace absenteeism.

Who is most at risk of isolation?
While individual-level causes of social isolation and loneliness — such as poverty, health status, or minority-group membership — have been extensively studied, important knowledge gaps remain.

Less is known about the broader socioeconomic and geographical risk factors that shape these experiences, including demographic composition, migration patterns, socioeconomic and health indicators, technology and mobility, and cultural norms and values.

Understanding how these structural factors interact is essential to designing more effective, equitable interventions that reflect Europe’s social and cultural diversity.

How is LONELY-EU addressing social isolation?
Social isolation is less well-measured than loneliness. LONELY-EU directly addresses this knowledge gap by creating an inventory of all existing measures, and by developing a coordinated European framework to understand, monitor, and reduce social isolation and loneliness.

Through its cross-national, multi-method approach, the project aims to:

  • Identify predictors of social isolation and loneliness by combining survey and behavioral data to understand who is most at risk and why.
  • Examine outcomes of social isolation and loneliness across health, social, and economic dimensions.
  • Model cause-and-effect relationships to reveal how isolation develops and what interventions can disrupt it.
  • Establish a monitoring framework for the EU, informed by expert consultation, to track changes over time.

By connecting scientists, policymakers, and practitioners, LONELY-EU helps ensure that evidence leads to real-world action — building stronger, more connected European communities.

About

Impact & Evidence

Explore what the data tells us — and what we still need to learn.

This section showcases the latest findings and statistics on social isolation and loneliness across Europe, and how LONELY-EU is working to strengthen the evidence base. By combining behavioral science, policy research, and comparative data, we aim to uncover who is most at risk, how social isolation and loneliness evolves, and what interventions work best.

Why does evidence matter?
Social isolation and loneliness are not only emotional experiences — they have measurable relationships with health, society, and the economy. Reliable data is essential to understanding who is most affected, where challenges are most severe, and which interventions work best. Evidence helps policymakers, researchers, and communities make decisions that improve social connection and collective well-being.

How widespread is loneliness and isolation in Europe?
Across the European Union, millions report feeling lonely or disconnected. A 2023 EU-wide survey gave us a preliminary map of the problem, identifying 13% of EU citizens as lonely most or all of the time in the previous four weeks, while up to 20% experienced occasional loneliness (Berlingieri, Colagrossi, & Mauri, 2023). 

Social isolation also affects significant portions of the population — particularly older adults, people living alone, and those in rural or low-income settings (Barjaková et al., 2023). But the exact prevalence ratios are less-defined. For loneliness and social isolation, we are developing more fine-grained measures to understand who is lonely and why. 

Nevertheless, these figures highlight that loneliness and isolation are not marginal issues but central challenges for Europe’s social fabric.

The social and economic impact

  • Health: Loneliness and isolation relate to greater risks of depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, and premature death (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015; Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010).
  • Society: Communities with high isolation rates tend to show lower civic trust, reduced participation in local activities, and weaker social cohesion (Growiec & Growiec, 2014; Cuccu & Stepanova, 2021).
  • Economy: The financial burden of social isolation and loneliness is significant. Studies estimate billions in annual healthcare costs and productivity losses linked to loneliness (Mihalopoulos et al., 2020). Addressing social isolation and loneliness is therefore not only a social good but an economic priority.