Another country counts: half of Australians report some form of social disconnection

Ending Loneliness Together, the Australian research coalition led from the University of Sydney, released its State of the Nation report today: a nationally weighted survey of 4,001 people aged 12 to 95, fielded in January and February. Fifty-one percent report some form of social disconnection; 28% are lonely on a standard four-item scale, 16% severely; 42% are socially isolated, meaning few people to call on; 19% are both. The youngest adults, 18 to 25, are the loneliest, while people in their late forties and early fifties are the most isolated. Compared with the coalition's 2023 survey, loneliness is down from 32% to 28% and isolation from 46% to 42% — a change the authors say is not meaningful, with the caveat that the samples are not identical. The campaign's sponsors include two insurers, which we note because we note it for everyone.

Why we track the counts. Loneliness is the fundamental with the strongest mortality evidence and the weakest measurement habit, and every country that counts it is a country that can act on it. The Australian numbers rhyme with the American ones we reported in April — about a fifth lonely on a given day in Gallup's measure, a larger share on broader scales — and they add a detail the US data often miss: isolation and loneliness are different things, and they peak in different decades. The young are lonely with people around them; the middle-aged have fewer people around at all. Both are health findings. Neither is on a wearable.

Loree’s take

The 45-to-54 isolation peak is my patient list. It is the decade of maximum work, children leaving or needing more, parents aging, and friendships quietly deferred until there is time. There is never time. I tell patients in that decade that isolation is a vital sign that reads normal right up until it doesn't, and the Australian data say the reading starts dropping at 45.

Ben’s take

A survey like this costs a few hundred thousand dollars and a coalition of nonprofits; the longevity industry spends more than that on a single launch party. One produces a number a government can act on; the other produces a product. If you want to know why the loneliness numbers are flat while the sleep-tracker numbers are up and to the right, that is the whole answer.