1 in 10 adults in the Netherlands feel severely lonely

According to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 10 percent, 1 in 10, of people aged 15 and older were seriously lonely in 2025. Severe loneliness was especially common among people aged 30 to 55, those who receive social benefits, and people born outside of the Netherlands.

From 2021 to 2025, the share of people aged 15 and older who felt seriously lonely stayed at around 10 percent and at 9 percent in 2019.

In 2025, people aged 55 and older felt less lonely, CBS said. The age groups between 35 and 55 were the most lonely. That number includes 13 percent of 35 to 45-year-olds and 12 percent of 45 to 55-year-olds.

The statistics service explained that survey respondents were questioned on both emotional and social loneliness. Questions related to emotional loneliness cover the feeling of being abandoned and emptiness, as well as missing people. Social loneliness-related questions were concerned with whether people have enough people around them whom they can trust and can fall back on when things are hard.

People aged 35 to 75 felt more socially lonely than those who are 15-25 and those aged 75 and older. Emotional loneliness levels were roughly the same across all age groups.

People on social benefits feel 23 percent more lonely than those whose income comes from work, student grants, or pensions.

The study also found that people born outside the Netherlands are more often severely lonely than second-generation migrants and people of Dutch origin. The gap was found in both forms of loneliness studied.

Among European immigrants, the share of people who are socially lonely rose from 2019 to 2025. Twenty-seven percent were found to be severely socially lonely, up from 17 percent in 2019.

The share rose less sharply among the people of Dutch origins. In 2025, 27 percent of them were seriously socially lonely, compared with 17 percent in 2019.