1 October marked the United Nations International Day of Older People. The intention of the day is to raise awareness of the challenges faced by older people, as well as the opportunities available to them. Its aim is to mobilise the wider community to help address the difficulties faced by older people.
The UK theme for 2025, as stated by the Centre for Ageing Better, is around building social connections. This includes the role social connections play, the importance of staying connected and the challenges and possibilities offered by getting older. The Centre states that:
as we get older, staying connected remains just as important. Ageing doesn’t stop us from forming or keeping relationships, but certain aspects of later life, like retirement or changing health, can bring both new possibilities and new challenges.
To highlight the importance of building social connections, this blog article will explore how loneliness impacts older people. It will examine:
- the extent of loneliness among older people in Northern Ireland
- the health impacts of loneliness
- what is being done to address loneliness across society
Loneliness has a distinct definition and is separate from social isolation. Social isolation happens when an individual has minimal (or no) contact with other people. It often involves a lack of meaningful relationships. It is an objective condition, characterised by a lack of social interactions, contacts and relationships.
Loneliness however, is a subjective emotional experience. It can occur when there is a perceived difference between the quality and quantity of social interactions, versus what is actually wanted. Loneliness happens even when a person has social relationships. When loneliness is measured, where a person is asked how often they feel lonely, it is typically done on a scale of: often/always; some of the time; occasionally; hardly ever; and never.
The extent of loneliness
Loneliness is a global and widespread problem. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Commission on Social Connection estimated that between 2014 and 2023, around 16% of people worldwide (one in six) felt lonely.
In Northern Ireland, data from the Executive Office’s 2023/24 Wellbeing Report shows that 18% of adults aged 65-74 are lonely at least some of the time. This increased to 23% for those aged 75 and older.[1] As of 2019, 80,000 older people in Northern Ireland also live alone. This leaves them at an increased risk of loneliness.
Figure below shows that while reported loneliness is dropping across most age groups in Northern Ireland, it has been consistently increasing for the oldest people in our society.
Older adults aged 75+ are significantly more likely to experience loneliness than all other age groups in Northern Ireland.
The Campaign to End Loneliness makes the case that efforts to address loneliness, have to take into account the context that Northern Ireland is a transitional post-conflict society.
Comparing loneliness between the regions of the UK is challenging. Different regions use different age bands and definitions of how often they felt lonely, when reporting levels of loneliness. This has made capturing direct like-for-like comparisons of loneliness among older people across the entire UK difficult.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) uses the Opinions and Lifestyle survey to estimate wellbeing and loneliness across Great Britain. They found that between February and March 2023, 26% of adults reported feeling lonely often, always or some of the time. However, this data provides no age or geographic breakdown.
Therefore, we have to look at more specific national sources to see what loneliness among older people looks like across other regions in the UK. In England, the 2023/24 Community Life Survey found that 4% of adults aged 65 to 74 felt lonely ‘often/always’. This increased to 6% to those aged 75 and over. However, this does not include those feeling lonely ‘some of the time’. It only shows those reporting that they experienced the highest category of loneliness.
In Scotland, the Scottish Household Survey uses different age brackets than the previous data sources. It found that in 2023/24, 14% of 60 to 74 year olds experienced loneliness ‘some of the time’, with 3% experiencing loneliness ‘most, almost all of the time’. For those aged 75 and over, the results were 21% and 5% respectively.
The National Survey for Wales captures information on loneliness, but uses different metrics, asking respondents if they are: lonely; not lonely; or sometimes lonely. The latest data from 2022/23, found that 9% of 65-74 year olds felt they were lonely, with 46% responding they are sometimes lonely. The results for adults aged 75+ were 9% and 51% respectively.[2]
The impact of loneliness on health
Loneliness and social isolation have serious and negative implications on mortality, physical and mental health. Loneliness among older adults is recognised as a leading cause of suicide ideation. These are thoughts or ideas centred around death or suicide. The WHO reported that there is a significant link between loneliness and cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and poorer general health. Estimates from the WHO suggest that between 2014-19, loneliness was a contributing factor towards the deaths (globally) of around 871,000 people per year.
The WHO reported that mental health is also impacted by loneliness. It is linked to an increased risk of depression, anxiety and reduced well-being. Cognitive decline is heightened by social disconnection, and leads to an increased risk of dementia.
Addressing loneliness in Northern Ireland
There are several initiatives underway in Northern Ireland aimed at addressing loneliness.
The Northern Ireland Executive’s2024-2027 Programme for Government introduced three ‘missions’ to support them to develop an in-depth view of life in Northern Ireland. These missions are People, Planet and Prosperity. They are underpinned by a cross-cutting commitment to Peace. The missions are further broken down into ten strategic domains. Loneliness is measured under the ‘Caring Society’ domain. Caring society is defined as ‘a society that supports people throughout their lives.’ Each domain is laid out in the Executive’s Wellbeing Framework.
Overall, self-reported loneliness in Northern Ireland is declining (Figure 2). However, the aggregate improvement should not mask the issues facing older people who are experiencing increasing loneliness. As was shown previously in Figure 1, while loneliness is trending downwards for most age groups, it is increasing for people aged 75 and over.
Figure 2 shows that there was a rise in loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. But levels of loneliness are returning to pre-pandemic levels. The framework does point out that consistent gaps in levels of loneliness remain between:
- Areas of high and low deprivation
- Disabled people and those without disabilities
- People who are married or in civil partnerships, and people who are separated, divorced or widowed
- People with a white ethnicity and any other ethnicity
After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness amongst all demographics aged 16 and over in Northern Ireland is generally trending downwards.
The Northern Ireland Assembly held a debate in April 2024 that noted the high prevalence of loneliness within Northern Ireland. The Assembly recognised the:
urgent need to address loneliness among people of all ages and backgrounds; calls on the Executive to support the development of a cross-departmental loneliness strategy to tackle this issue on a long-term basis; and further calls on the Executive Office to lead on the development of a cross-departmental loneliness strategy.
While the motion was passed, there is no indication whether the Executive Office is taking forward the recommendation to develop a specific loneliness strategy. Further information about the strategies being undertaken to tackle loneliness can be found in this Research Matters article from 2020.
If you’re experiencing loneliness or supporting someone who is, there are several organisations across Northern Ireland offering tailored support. For older people in particular, Age NI offers free advice and practical help via 0808 808 7575. They also signpost to:
- Re-engage. A service that holds monthly afternoon tea parties for people aged over 75. It is designed for people who live on their own, with little or no chance to socialize.
- The University of the Third Age. This is a network of learning groups aimed at encouraging older people to share knowledge, skills and interests in a friendly environment.
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[1] The NISRA mid-year population estimate uses different age bands (‘65-69’ and ‘70+’) compared to the Wellbeing Report (‘65-74’ and ‘75 and over’). Therefore providing an estimate of how many 65-74 year olds and those aged 75 and older, were affected by loneliness at least some of the time in 2024, is challenging.
[2] Please note these results were found by accessing the National Survey for Wales: results viewer dashboard. These results were found by inputting the following criteria: the question ‘People feeling lonely (FG indicator)’; ‘2022-23’ for the results year; and ‘Age (5 groups)’.