{"id":80841,"date":"2026-07-23T00:20:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=80841"},"modified":"2026-07-23T00:20:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T04:20:25","slug":"is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Few human experiences are as universal \u2013 or as poorly understood \u2013 as\u00a0loneliness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than just a blue feeling and the inspiration for\u00a0countless songs<\/a>, it\u2019s linked to\u00a0poorer wellbeing<\/a>,\u00a0worse mental<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0physical health<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0higher risk of early death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even in the age of social media, we hear of loneliness being on the rise everywhere \u2013 to the extent that some have\u00a0labelled it an epidemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To build a better picture,\u00a0we analysed<\/a>\u00a0responses to the Gallup World Poll from more than 218,000 people, across nearly 150 countries. We found around one in five people reported feeling lonely during a typical day.<\/p>\n

But that global average masked a stark divide.<\/p>\n

In high-income countries, 15.7% of people reported loneliness, including 16.2% in New Zealand and 17.8% in Australia. In low-income countries, by contrast, nearly one in three people (31.3%) reported feeling lonely.<\/p>\n

The findings challenge the classic idea that loneliness is simply a private struggle. Instead, they suggest it is also a social condition, influenced by the economic circumstances, institutions and strength of community life.<\/p>\n

The global picture<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Across the data we analysed, one factor consistently stood out. That was the importance of social capital; the presence of trust and reliable support networks. People who report having others they can depend on are far less likely to feel lonely in every region of the world.<\/p>\n

Other\u00a0factors<\/a>, such as poor health, unemployment and not having a partner, also played a part. People with more education tended to be less lonely in middle- and high-income countries. That relationship was much weaker in low-income countries, where wider social and economic conditions play a bigger role.<\/p>\n

These findings led us to conclude that loneliness can often be the result of a person\u2019s individual circumstances, together with their wider social and economic environment.<\/p>\n

But was there evidence of a worsening global loneliness epidemic? While\u00a0a popular idea<\/a>, when we looked at data from 113 countries, between 2023 and 2024, we found no clear trend. In fact, just under two thirds of countries appeared to report lower rates in 2024 than 2023.<\/p>\n

Again, this wasn\u2019t uniform. While reported rates of loneliness rose significantly in low-income countries, they remained broadly unchanged in middle-income countries and declined in high-income countries.<\/p>\n

Importantly, our findings should not be taken to mean loneliness is\u00a0any less serious<\/a>. It affects a substantial share of the global population and is strongly linked to poorer wellbeing, emotional distress and a range of adverse health outcomes.<\/p>\n

Lessons for tackling loneliness<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The consequences of loneliness extend far\u00a0beyond<\/a>\u00a0feeling unhappy. Across all regions and income groups, people who reported loneliness tended to have lower\u00a0life satisfaction<\/a>; both in the present and in expectations for the future, though this association is smaller.<\/p>\n

They were also far more likely to experience stress, worry, anger and physical pain, and much less likely to report enjoyment in their daily lives. While the strength of these relationships varied, the overall pattern was remarkably consistent across countries.<\/p>\n

Our findings also suggest there is no single solution to loneliness. In low-income countries, where loneliness is both more common and increasing, reducing poverty, improving health systems and expanding social protection might all help people build stronger social connections.<\/p>\n

In wealthier countries, where loneliness is less common but still affects millions of people,\u00a0the challenge may be different<\/a>. Investing in community organisations, public spaces and other opportunities for people to build trusted relationships could prove just as important as expanding mental health services.<\/p>\n

More broadly, our findings suggest loneliness should be seen as more than an individual psychological experience. It also reflects the strength of the societies people live in.<\/p>\n

That has implications that reach well beyond health. Tackling loneliness has the potential to improve wellbeing, boost productivity and help build stronger, more connected communities.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Dennis Wesselbaum is Associate Professor, Department of Economics at the University of Otago and David Leblang is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Virginia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few human experiences are as universal \u2013 or as poorly understood \u2013 as\u00a0loneliness. More than just a blue feeling and the inspiration for\u00a0countless songs, it\u2019s linked to\u00a0poorer wellbeing,\u00a0worse mental\u00a0and\u00a0physical health\u00a0and a\u00a0higher risk of early death. Even in the age of social media, we hear of loneliness being on the rise everywhere \u2013 to the extent […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[209383],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-80841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-change","tag-loneliness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Few human experiences are as universal \u2013 or as poorly understood \u2013 as\u00a0loneliness. More than just a blue feeling and the inspiration for\u00a0countless songs, it\u2019s linked to\u00a0poorer wellbeing,\u00a0worse mental\u00a0and\u00a0physical health\u00a0and a\u00a0higher risk of early death. Even in the age of social media, we hear of loneliness being on the rise everywhere \u2013 to the extent […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T04:20:25+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/loneliness-1.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T04:20:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/loneliness-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"loneliness\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Social Change\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/\",\"name\":\"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/loneliness-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T04:20:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/loneliness-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/loneliness-1.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":454},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Few human experiences are as universal \u2013 or as poorly understood \u2013 as\u00a0loneliness. More than just a blue feeling and the inspiration for\u00a0countless songs, it\u2019s linked to\u00a0poorer wellbeing,\u00a0worse mental\u00a0and\u00a0physical health\u00a0and a\u00a0higher risk of early death. Even in the age of social media, we hear of loneliness being on the rise everywhere \u2013 to the extent […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2026-07-23T04:20:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/loneliness-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture","datePublished":"2026-07-23T04:20:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/"},"wordCount":666,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/loneliness-1.jpg","keywords":["loneliness"],"articleSection":["Social Change"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/","name":"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/loneliness-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-23T04:20:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/loneliness-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/loneliness-1.jpg","width":680,"height":454},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-there-really-a-global-loneliness-epidemic-research-reveals-a-more-complex-picture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is there really a global loneliness epidemic? Research reveals a more complex picture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80844,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80841\/revisions\/80844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80841"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=80841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}