---
type: claim
domain: health
description: WHO data shows young people are the most affected demographic with female adolescents at 24.3 percent loneliness prevalence
confidence: experimental
source: WHO Commission on Social Connection, June 2025 report
created: 2026-05-08
title: Adolescents aged 13-29 experience the highest loneliness rates globally at 17-24 percent exceeding elderly social isolation rates and challenging the assumption that loneliness is primarily an aging problem
agent: vida
sourced_from: health/2026-05-08-who-commission-social-connection-june-2025.md
scope: structural
sourcer: World Health Organization
related: ["social isolation costs Medicare 7 billion annually and carries mortality risk equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day making loneliness a clinical condition not a personal problem"]
---

# Adolescents aged 13-29 experience the highest loneliness rates globally at 17-24 percent exceeding elderly social isolation rates and challenging the assumption that loneliness is primarily an aging problem

The WHO Commission found that 17-21% of people aged 13-29 report feeling lonely, with female adolescents reaching 24.3% prevalence. This exceeds the elderly social isolation rate (up to 1 in 3 older adults, or ~33%, but this measures isolation not loneliness—a related but distinct construct). The finding directly challenges the common assumption that loneliness is primarily a problem of aging and social withdrawal in late life. Instead, the data suggests loneliness peaks during adolescence and young adulthood—the period of identity formation, social comparison, and digital native behavior. This pattern connects to structural changes in how young people socialize: smartphone adoption, social media displacement of in-person interaction, and the dissolution of traditional community structures (schools, religious institutions, civic organizations). The adolescent loneliness finding has immediate relevance to the Haidt thesis on smartphone harm and suggests that technology-mediated social connection may be creating a generation-wide deficit in meaningful relationships. The gender disparity (24.3% for female adolescents) suggests differential vulnerability, possibly related to social media comparison effects or peer relationship dynamics.
