Finnish Red Cross Loneliness Barometer: Loneliness of teens and young adults increased even more

In Finland, 59% of people feel lonely at least occasionally, shows the Loneliness Barometer commissioned by the Finnish Red Cross. One in four have been feeling lonely for over five years. 

Feelings of loneliness, isolation and exclusion are the most common among teenagers and young adults, whose situation has become even bleaker compared to previous years. As many as 66% of people aged 16–24 in Finland feel lonely a few times a month or more often. In the previous year's barometer, 47% of the respondents felt this way. 

"One in five people aged 16–24 say they have been feeling lonely for at least five years. This is a long time in a young person's life. We know that prolonged loneliness can manifest itself as learning difficulties for a young person and even increase their risk of radicalisation and violence. We need to find solutions to reduce loneliness among young people quickly," says Social Welfare Coordinator Maaret Alaranta from the Finnish Red Cross.

Alleviating loneliness also strengthens crisis resilience in society.

"We can't afford to lose multiple young generations to loneliness or exclude them from society. For overall safety and security, it's important that we don't let anyone fall off," says Alaranta.

Loneliness is related to mental health problems, especially among young and low-income groups

Financial troubles can be seen in the latest barometer; respondents consider these problems to be the fourth most common reason for their loneliness. The Loneliness Barometer shows that the younger the respondent and the lower their income, the more often they experience loneliness, and the more often loneliness has led to mental health problems. 

In particular, loneliness is a cause of mental health problems among 16–24-year-olds, of whom one in three reported this.

"Mental health problems are often a factor that leads to loneliness, while loneliness itself also causes mental health problems. Mental health problems are a prevalent reason for loneliness as reported by teens, young adults and people whose first language is not Finnish or Swedish," says Head of Unit for Wellbeing and Health Kirsti Kuusterä from the Finnish Red Cross. 

Those 16–24-year-olds who felt lonely stated that their key causes of loneliness were, besides mental health problems, negative experiences of relationships and the feelings of not belonging and being an outsider. 

"We can't downplay young people's distress any longer. It's the responsibility of adults to ensure that help is available when a young person seeks it. The barometer results show that young people recognise their own distress and seek help for it, but of all respondents, they also have the highest number of bad experiences of seeking help. They're not ashamed of their loneliness, but they are disappointed in the level of help they have received," Kuusterä says. 

Manager of Finnish Red Cross Youth Shelters Pentti Savolainen is concerned about young people's situation. 

"When you're young, your mental health and wellbeing are founded on social relationships. I'm concerned about marginalised young people and their future," Savolainen says.

According to the barometer, teens and young adults are more likely than other age groups to consider loneliness a serious societal problem. 

"The therapy guarantee for children and young people is a welcome change, but we need to make sure that it's also realised in practice. The guarantee is also not enough on its own. We also need low-threshold places where young people can receive support and find company. With the ongoing budget cuts in Finland, we should not shut down youth centres or other free spaces where young people can meet each other," Kuusterä states.

"Young people need support from all adults around them to meet others and form groups. We can't ask young people themselves to take sole responsibility for establishing relationships," Kuusterä says.

Lack of prospects and dissatisfaction in life intensify among lonely people

According to the barometer, the satisfaction of people experiencing loneliness with their financial situation, leisure time, relationships, physical and mental health and their lives overall is lower than the satisfaction of people who are not experiencing loneliness. People who feel lonely also see a lack of future prospects.

"The barometer results show that people experiencing loneliness are hopeful about the future less often than those not experiencing loneliness. This makes it clear how extensive and long-lasting the impact of loneliness is on a person's life and faith in the future," Alaranta emphasises.

To alleviate loneliness in Finland, solutions and actions are required at all levels of society.

"All municipalities should now record loneliness and actions to reduce it in their wellbeing plans if they have not done so before. It's also important to better identify loneliness in places like health stations and social services. Wellbeing services counties would see significant savings if more people who experience loneliness were immediately directed to suitable services, such as activities offered by organisations. This would reduce the workload in the public sector. Loneliness is a known cause of various national diseases, and it benefits everyone to see loneliness as a health hazard that affects the whole population," Alaranta says.

Finnish Red Cross_Loneliness barometer 2025.pdf

This was the fourth time that the Finnish Red Cross used a barometer to study loneliness, its effects and the reasons behind it. The data collection for the Loneliness Barometer was carried out by Verian in December 2024 and January 2025. The survey received responses from 1,094 people. The survey was carried out as an online questionnaire. The previous barometers were carried out by Taloustutkimus through a phone survey. The Finnish Red Cross uses these barometers to regularly monitor the loneliness situation in Finland.