Loneliness remains high, but young people are not the loneliest
CBS figures for 2025 show that especially people aged 35 to 55, migrants and benefit recipients feel severely lonely.
One in ten people in the Netherlands aged 15 and over felt severely lonely in 2025, CBS reports. The proportion has been stable for around five years. The available figures do not support the impression that young people are the main group affected: especially people aged 35 to 55 report severe loneliness.
CBS bases the figures on its Social Cohesion and Well-being survey. Participants answer questions about, among other things, feelings of emptiness, missing people and the availability of trusted individuals. The figures concern experienced emotional and social loneliness, not a medical diagnosis.
In 2025, 10.1 per cent of people aged 15 and over felt severely lonely. A further 29.7 per cent felt somewhat lonely. The proportion of people experiencing severe loneliness was therefore roughly at the same level as in previous years. In 2019, it was 8.7 per cent; in 2021, 11 per cent.
The 35-to-45 age group recorded 13 per cent severe loneliness. Among 45- to 55-year-olds, the figure was 12 per cent. From the age of 55, the proportion was below 9 per cent. According to CBS, young people aged between 15 and 25 were not the group with the highest overall level of loneliness.
The figures also show differences by background and income. People born outside the Netherlands more often reported feeling severely socially lonely than people of Dutch background. Among people receiving social benefits, 22.5 per cent felt severely lonely, compared with 9.2 per cent of employed people, students and pensioners.
CBS stresses that the figures are associated with certain characteristics, but do not prove that one characteristic is the cause. Receiving benefits may, for example, be linked to lower income, fewer contacts at work, health problems or other circumstances. The survey does not reveal which mechanism is decisive.
The measurement method also determines what the outcome means. RIVM uses the same CBS source for its monitor, but warns that figures from other surveys are not automatically comparable. A report about ‘young people struggling with loneliness’ may therefore be a real social signal, but it does not describe the main conclusion of this CBS publication.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- In 2025, 10.1 per cent of people aged 15 and over felt severely lonely.
- The proportion has been roughly stable since 2021.
- Severe loneliness is relatively common among people aged 35 to 55, migrants and benefit recipients.
- The figures show an association, not a proven cause.
Left
Arguments Loneliness should also be seen as a social and economic problem. Financial security, access to care, affordable housing and public meeting places can improve the circumstances in which social contacts develop.
Values Equality, social solidarity and accessible public services.
Consequences Without targeted policies, people on low incomes, with health problems or from a migrant background will relatively often remain overlooked and outside social networks.
Centre
Arguments The government can identify warning signs, support local initiatives and improve cooperation between care and welfare services, but should be cautious about drawing sweeping conclusions from self-reported figures.
Values Proportionality, evidence-based policy and scope for local solutions.
Consequences A combination of prevention and targeted support is defensible, while preserving individual differences and privacy.
Right
Arguments Primary responsibility lies with social networks, families, associations and individuals. The government should mainly remove barriers and prevent loneliness from being used as an argument for ever more general schemes.
Values Personal responsibility, community spirit and efficiency.
Consequences Targeted help may be more effective than broad programmes; excessive government intervention may actually weaken informal networks.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The percentages and groups were checked directly against CBS and RIVM. The original emphasis on young people was toned down because it does not correspond with the source’s main findings.
- confirmed In 2025, 10.1 per cent of people aged 15 and over felt severely lonely. — CBS reports 10.1 per cent in its Social Cohesion and Well-being survey. source
- confirmed People aged 35 to 45 and 45 to 55 reported the highest percentages of severe loneliness. — CBS reports 13 and 12 per cent respectively. source
- confirmed 22.5 per cent of benefit recipients felt severely lonely. — This percentage appears in the CBS table for 2025. source
- confirmed The figures do not prove a causal relationship. — The CBS publication describes associations and background characteristics, not causal mechanisms. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: Many young people are struggling with loneliness.Now: Loneliness remains widespread; according to CBS, people aged 35 to 55 are relatively often severely lonely. (The CBS figures cover people aged 15 and over and do not point to young people as the main group.)
Editor's note
The new headline placed the emphasis on young people. The primary CBS source shows instead that the highest percentages are among 35- to 55-year-olds; that nuance has been incorporated into the article.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- RTL Nieuws — „eenzaamheid mentale gezondheid”
- NOS — „eenzaamheid mentale gezondheid”
- Het Parool — „eenzaamheid mentale gezondheid”