Conversations about loneliness tend to focus on the elderly, especially during the holidays. Yet, a growing body of data reveals a starkly different reality: young adults are frequently the loneliest demographic.
“I wasn’t alone all the time, but […] I was a bit of an outsider,” recalls one young man, describing a Halloween night spent walking past vibrant parties and crowded pubs. “It just [felt] like a different world that you’re not part of. And you feel like you can never be part of it.”
His experience is far from unique. According to recent Office for National Statistics research, 33% of Britons aged 16 to 29 report feeling lonely “often, always or some of the time”—the highest rate of any age group, compared to 17% of those over 70.
This pattern is global. A 2024 review by the World Health Organization found young adults and adolescents consistently report the highest levels of loneliness across multiple countries.
The data is complex. Some studies show loneliness can surge again among the very oldest (over-85s), potentially matching the rates seen in 18-to-30-year-olds.
However, analysts note that in most research, young adults emerge as a particularly isolated cohort. “Adults between 18 and 24 are the most lonely—followed by older people,” says Professor Andrea Wigfield, director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. “It’s a growing problem.”
The question now is not just who is most affected, but why—and what can be done about it.
By James Kisoo
