Overview

• Peer-reviewed PLOS One analysis of 23,071 adults (2021–2023) finds people who report being often lonely use care that costs roughly £850–£900 more per year than non-lonely peers.
• Excess use spans GP, outpatient and inpatient care, with unit costs estimated at £49 per GP visit, £217 per outpatient visit and £1,111 per inpatient case.
• The cost pattern is U-shaped across ages, with statistically significant excess costs for 16–24-year-olds and elevated costs again in older adults.
• Loneliness correlates with mental distress, lower wellbeing, and poorer physical and mental functioning; about 32% felt lonely some of the time and 8% felt lonely often.
• The authors call loneliness a public-health and NHS priority, urge targeted interventions—especially for young adults—and highlight the need to study impacts in ethnic minorities given a predominantly white sample.