There is no loneliness epidemic — so why do we keep talking as if there is?

Rates of loneliness have remained stable for decades. But alarmist framing fuels panic and distracts us from the steady, compassionate work of building connection.

- Brendan Kelly

Most people experience periods of loneliness, isolation or solitude in their lives. But these are different things, and the proportion of people feeling lonely is stable over time. So why do we keep talking about an epidemic of loneliness?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, several studies showed that rates of loneliness were stable in England, the US, Finland, Sweden and Germany, among other places, over recent decades.

While Covid-19 changed many things, loneliness levels quickly returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2018, 34 per cent of US adults aged 50 to 80 reported a lack of companionship "some of the time" or "often". That proportion rose to 42 per cent during the pandemic but fell to 33 per cent in 2024.

That's a lot of lonely people, but it is not an epidemic. In some countries, such as Sweden, loneliness is in decline – at least among older adults.

Despite these statistics, the idea that loneliness is increasing is pervasive. For example in 2023, the US Surgeon-General warned about an "epidemic of loneliness and isolation". Britain even has a government minister with an explicit responsibility for addressing loneliness.