Adults in England who meet the recommended physical activity threshold are far less likely to say they often or always feel lonely (4%, vs 10% among the inactive). The gap holds across men and women and at every step of the activity scale.
One of five short reports in our Health Survey for England 2024 series, drawing on data published by NHS England in early 2026. The other four are linked at the foot of this page.
Adults in England who meet the government's recommended physical activity threshold are far less likely to say they often or always feel lonely. Among those who meet the recommendations, 4% report feeling lonely often or always. Among the inactive, that figure is 10%. The gap is visible across men and women, and across every grade of the loneliness scale.
What the numbers say
Self-reported loneliness, age-standardised, by physical activity level (all adults):
How often lonely | Meets recommendations | Some / low activity | Inactive |
|---|---|---|---|
Never | 30% | 25% | 27% |
Hardly ever | 31% | 30% | 25% |
Occasionally | 20% | 20% | 20% |
Some of the time | 14% | 18% | 17% |
Often or always | 4% | 6% | 10% |
Some / often / always (combined) | 19% | 24% | 28% |
By gender:
Group | Often or always lonely | Some / often / always (combined) |
|---|---|---|
Men, meets recommendations | 4% | 17% |
Men, some or low activity | 6% | 21% |
Men, inactive | 11% | 27% |
Women, meets recommendations | 4% | 20% |
Women, some or low activity | 6% | 27% |
Women, inactive | 10% | 28% |
What that means
The "often or always" lonely figure moves from 4% in the most-active group to 10% in the inactive group, a 2.5x difference, and the pattern is almost identical for men (4% to 11%) and women (4% to 10%). The combined "some of the time, or more" figure tells the same story more loudly: 19% of the most-active adults, 28% of inactive adults.
A word of care on interpretation. This is a cross-sectional reading, not a longitudinal one. The survey cannot tell us whether being active makes people less lonely, or whether people who are not lonely find it easier to stay active, or whether some third factor (health, employment, family) drives both. What it does tell us is that the two sit together consistently, and at every step of the activity scale.
Two further observations are worth pulling out. First, "occasionally feel lonely" is the one row that does not move at all across activity levels, it sits at 20% everywhere. The activity gradient operates on the more intense end of the loneliness scale, not on its mild end. Second, the women's table shows a slightly larger jump than the men's in the lower-frequency loneliness measures, but the men's table shows a slightly larger jump in the "often or always" row. The most active group, men and women alike, looks very similar. The inactive group is where the sex differences blur.
Related reports in this NHS England Health Survey 2024 series
Source: Health Survey for England 2024, NHS England. Adults aged 16 and over. Self-reported loneliness based on responses to the question "How often do you feel lonely?". Physical activity categories follow current government guidelines: "meets recommendations" is at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week; "inactive" is less than 30 minutes of moderate activity or less than 15 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Figures are age-standardised. Unweighted bases: 3,894 (meets recommendations), 874 (some or low activity), 1,769 (inactive).
