Summary

We have been very encouraged by the actions that statistics producers have taken to respond to the data needs of users, especially during the pandemic where resources have been stretched. The availability of a headline figure for loneliness for each country in the UK is valuable and indicates the positive strides that statisticians and producer bodies have taken to begin to meet society’s need for information.

While there are a range of statistics on loneliness produced by government, little local data exists in this space, meaning local service provision and specifically services provided by charities are often not driven by official statistics. Many charities and academics use the national baseline figures, but carry out their own research to find the data they need to answer their questions, namely those on their local area and the demographic group of interest. Statistics producers should strive to add additional context including, but not exclusive to, disaggregated data and data on protected characteristics to ensure the data can be used at a local service provision level.