Countries by Loneliness
Complete ranking of 30 countries • Percentage of population aged 16 years or over • Updated 2026
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About Loneliness Rankings
Canada leads all 30 countries in Loneliness with a value of 13.49% of adults 16+, while Norway ranks last at 3.13% of adults 16+. This represents a 4-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.
What Loneliness Measures
Share of adults who report feeling lonely, from OECD How's Life / Well-Being.
Why This Ranking Matters
Examining Loneliness across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.
Global Range
Values range from 3.13% of adults 16+ (Norway) to 13.49% of adults 16+ (Canada) — a 4-fold difference across 30 countries.
Regional Patterns
European countries dominate this ranking, holding 18 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.
Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 4.25% of adults 16+ to 7.28% of adults 16+. The overall spread from 3.13% of adults 16+ to 13.49% of adults 16+ reflects significant global variation.
Notable Outliers
The top of the ranking is competitive: Canada and United States are separated by only 1%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.
Continental Leaders
Highest Loneliness
The 5 strongest Loneliness reads.
Lowest Loneliness
The 5 lowest Loneliness reads.
Data Note
Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD How's Life / Well-Being, covering 30 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.
Top 10 Countries
Country Ladder
| Percentile | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Canada | 13.49% of adults 16+ | North America | 100% |
| 2nd | United States | 13.36% of adults 16+ | North America | 97% |
| 3rd | France | 10.77% of adults 16+ | Europe | 93% |
| 4th | Lithuania | 8.9% of adults 16+ | Europe | 90% |
| 5th | Portugal | 8.1% of adults 16+ | Europe | 87% |
| 6th | Hungary | 8.1% of adults 16+ | Europe | 83% |
| 7th | Sweden | 7.9% of adults 16+ | Europe | 80% |
| 8th | Germany | 7.3% of adults 16+ | Europe | 77% |
| 9th | Greece | 7.2% of adults 16+ | Europe | 73% |
| 10th | Finland | 7.2% of adults 16+ | Europe | 70% |
| 11th | United Kingdom | 7.1% of adults 16+ | Europe | 67% |
| 12th | Estonia | 6.6% of adults 16+ | Europe | 63% |
| 13th | Latvia | 6.4% of adults 16+ | Europe | 60% |
| 14th | Netherlands | 5.7% of adults 16+ | Europe | 57% |
| 15th | Spain | 5.4% of adults 16+ | Europe | 53% |
| 16th | Belgium | 5.3% of adults 16+ | Europe | 50% |
| 17th | Italy | 5.3% of adults 16+ | Europe | 47% |
| 18th | Czechia | 5.2% of adults 16+ | Europe | 43% |
| 19th | Poland | 5.1% of adults 16+ | Europe | 40% |
| 20th | Denmark | 5.1% of adults 16+ | Europe | 37% |
| 21st | Luxembourg | 4.9% of adults 16+ | Europe | 33% |
| 22nd | Japan | 4.8% of adults 16+ | Asia | 30% |
| 23rd | Austria | 4.3% of adults 16+ | Europe | 27% |
| 24th | Slovakia | 4.2% of adults 16+ | Europe | 23% |
| 25th | Switzerland | 4.0% of adults 16+ | Europe | 20% |
| 26th | New Zealand | 4.0% of adults 16+ | Oceania | 17% |
| 27th | Slovenia | 3.9% of adults 16+ | Europe | 13% |
| 28th | Iceland | 3.8% of adults 16+ | Europe | 10% |
| 29th | Ireland | 3.6% of adults 16+ | Europe | 7% |
| 30th | Norway | 3.1% of adults 16+ | Europe | 3% |