Overview

• The report finds that roughly 16% of people worldwide feel lonely, while an estimated one in three older adults and one in four young people experience social isolation.
• Loneliness and isolation are linked to 871,000 deaths each year by increasing risks of stroke, heart attack, diabetes, depression, anxiety and suicide.
• Societies bear billions of dollars in healthcare costs and lost productivity annually due to weakened social connections.
• Primary drivers of loneliness include chronic illness, low income, limited community offerings, living alone and excessive reliance on digital interactions over face-to-face contact.
• The commission calls for coordinated national and local policies, citing Sweden’s model of youth activity cards and public school mobile phone bans as effective interventions.