Loneliness by Country
This page shows how many people in 142 countries say they feel lonely. The data come from a Gallup survey for Meta: about 1,000 people per country were asked “In general, how lonely do you feel?” between June 2022 and February 2023.
Worldwide, 24% of people feel very or fairly lonely. Lesotho has the highest share at 58%. Vietnam has the lowest at 5%.
People who feel very or fairly lonely, by country
| Country | Very or fairly lonely | |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide average | 24% | |
| Lesotho | 58% | |
| Philippines | 57% | |
| Uganda | 53% | |
| Botswana | 50% | |
| Afghanistan | 50% | |
| Namibia | 47% | |
| The Gambia | 47% | |
| Kenya | 47% | |
| Madagascar | 46% | |
| Liberia | 45% | |
| Zimbabwe | 44% | |
| Nepal | 43% | |
| Niger | 43% | |
| Mauritania | 42% | |
| Malawi | 42% | |
| Sierra Leone | 41% | |
| Pakistan | 41% | |
| Senegal | 41% | |
| Comoros | 40% | |
| Chad | 40% | |
| South Africa | 39% | |
| Bangladesh | 39% | |
| Eswatini | 38% | |
| Ghana | 37% | |
| Tanzania | 36% | |
| Ethiopia | 36% | |
| Iraq | 36% | |
| Algeria | 35% | |
| Iran | 33% | |
| Zambia | 32% | |
| Benin | 31% | |
| Kuwait | 31% | |
| Bolivia | 31% | |
| Chile | 30% | |
| Montenegro | 30% | |
| India | 30% | |
| Sri Lanka | 29% | |
| United Arab Emirates | 28% | |
| Togo | 28% | |
| Argentina | 28% | |
| Guinea | 27% | |
| Cambodia | 27% | |
| Nigeria | 27% | |
| Libya | 26% | |
| Tajikistan | 26% | |
| Albania | 26% | |
| Jordan | 26% | |
| Republic of the Congo | 25% | |
| Guatemala | 25% | |
| Uruguay | 25% | |
| Mozambique | 24% | |
| Peru | 24% | |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 24% | |
| Bulgaria | 24% | |
| Colombia | 24% | |
| Tunisia | 24% | |
| Kosovo | 24% | |
| Serbia | 24% | |
| Paraguay | 23% | |
| Palestinian Territories | 23% | |
| Ecuador | 23% | |
| Lebanon | 23% | |
| Saudi Arabia | 22% | |
| Cameroon | 22% | |
| Costa Rica | 22% | |
| Gabon | 22% | |
| Morocco | 22% | |
| Egypt | 22% | |
| Jamaica | 22% | |
| Myanmar | 21% | |
| Venezuela | 21% | |
| Cyprus | 21% | |
| El Salvador | 21% | |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 21% | |
| Honduras | 21% | |
| Mali | 20% | |
| North Macedonia | 20% | |
| France | 20% | |
| Romania | 19% | |
| Puerto Rico | 19% | |
| Panama | 19% | |
| Yemen | 19% | |
| Laos | 19% | |
| Nicaragua | 19% | |
| Moldova | 18% | |
| Azerbaijan | 18% | |
| Mexico | 18% | |
| Croatia | 18% | |
| Hungary | 18% | |
| Japan | 17% | |
| Portugal | 17% | |
| Northern Cyprus | 17% | |
| Italy | 17% | |
| Taiwan | 17% | |
| Dominican Republic | 17% | |
| Türkiye | 16% | |
| South Korea | 16% | |
| United States | 15% | |
| Brazil | 15% | |
| Canada | 15% | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 14% | |
| Mauritius | 14% | |
| Malaysia | 14% | |
| Austria | 14% | |
| Singapore | 14% | |
| United Kingdom | 13% | |
| Switzerland | 13% | |
| Israel | 13% | |
| Lithuania | 13% | |
| Belgium | 13% | |
| Ireland | 13% | |
| New Zealand | 12% | |
| Spain | 12% | |
| Armenia | 12% | |
| Luxembourg | 11% | |
| Poland | 11% | |
| Czech Republic | 11% | |
| Malta | 11% | |
| Greece | 11% | |
| Australia | 10% | |
| Estonia | 10% | |
| Kazakhstan | 10% | |
| Thailand | 10% | |
| Georgia | 9% | |
| Iceland | 9% | |
| Indonesia | 9% | |
| Slovakia | 9% | |
| Hong Kong | 9% | |
| Mongolia | 8% | |
| Netherlands | 8% | |
| Russia | 8% | |
| Norway | 8% | |
| Sweden | 8% | |
| Kyrgyzstan | 8% | |
| Uzbekistan | 8% | |
| Finland | 7% | |
| Denmark | 7% | |
| Latvia | 7% | |
| Ukraine | 6% | |
| Slovenia | 6% | |
| Germany | 6% | |
| Vietnam | 5% |
Loneliness by age, worldwide
| Age | Very or fairly lonely | |
|---|---|---|
| 15–18 | 25% | |
| 19–29 | 27% | |
| 30–44 | 25% | |
| 45–64 | 22% | |
| 65 and older | 17% |
What the numbers show
- About one in four people worldwide (24%) feel very or fairly lonely. That is more than one billion people. About half (49%) say they do not feel lonely at all.
- Loneliness is most common in Africa. In 29 countries, 33% or more of people feel lonely. 22 of these countries are in Africa. The other seven are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.
- In 19 countries, fewer than 10% feel lonely. The lowest shares are in Vietnam (5%), Germany, Slovenia and Ukraine (6% each), and Denmark, Finland and Latvia (7% each).
- Many rich countries are in the lower half of the list: the United Kingdom 13%, the United States and Canada 15%, Japan 17%, France 20%.
- Young adults feel lonelier than older adults. 27% of people aged 19 to 29 feel very or fairly lonely, compared with 17% of people aged 65 and older. Men and women report the same level worldwide: 24% each.
What this data can and cannot tell you
Each figure is the answer to one question about a feeling. Each language has its own word for loneliness, and people may understand that word in different ways. People in different cultures may also be more or less willing to say that they feel lonely. So differences between countries may reflect culture and language as well as how lonely people really are.
Each country rests on about 1,000 interviews (500 in Iceland, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, 2,006 in India and 3,000 in Russia). Small differences of a few percentage points between two countries are therefore not meaningful.
The interviews took place between June 2022 and February 2023, by phone where most people have a phone and face to face elsewhere. Some large countries, including China, were not part of the survey.
Sources
- Gallup and Meta (2023). The Global State of Social Connections. Gallup, Inc. Country table: “Self-reported loneliness by country”; age table: table 10. www.gallup.com/file/analytics/513347/Gallup-Meta-Global%20State%20of%20Social%20Connections%20Report-2023.pdf
- Gallup. The Global State of Social Connections (report page and methodology). www.gallup.com/analytics/509675/state-of-social-connections.aspx
Last reviewed: October 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
Which country is the loneliest?
Lesotho: 58% of people there feel very or fairly lonely. The Philippines (57%), Uganda (53%), Botswana (50%) and Afghanistan (50%) follow.
Which country is the least lonely?
Vietnam, where 5% feel very or fairly lonely and 86% say they do not feel lonely at all. Germany, Slovenia and Ukraine follow with 6% each.
How lonely are people in the United States?
15% of people in the United States feel very or fairly lonely. That is below the worldwide figure of 24%. 97 of the 142 countries have a higher share.
What percentage of the world feels lonely?
24% of people worldwide feel very or fairly lonely. That is more than one billion people. Another 27% feel a little lonely, and 49% do not feel lonely at all.
Which age group is the loneliest?
Young adults aged 19 to 29: 27% of them feel very or fairly lonely. People aged 65 and older are the least lonely group, at 17%.