Four in 10 Koreans say they usually feel lonely, and the proportion rises with age, a government survey showed Tuesday.
According to a survey of about 34,000 people conducted by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, 38.2 percent of respondents said they feel lonely. That includes 4.7 percent who said they “frequently” feel lonely, along with 33.5 percent who said they “sometimes” do. Respondents replying they do not feel lonely accounted for the other 61.8 percent.
The survey found that loneliness increases with age. Among those who said they feel lonely, people ages 13-19 had the lowest rate at 30.3 percent, followed by those in their 20s (32.2 percent), 30s (33.8 percent), 40s (38.8 percent) and 50s (41.7 percent). Those aged 60 or older had the highest rate of 42.2 percent.
By gender, women (41 percent) were found to feel lonelier than men (35.4 percent).
The share of people without any form of social network — defined as having no one to turn to for help in specific situations and no one with whom they regularly interact — accounted for 5.8 percent of all respondents. Among them, 3.3 percent said they normally feel lonely. Men without a social network outnumbered women by 2.7 percentage points.
The survey also measured social isolation based on the frequency of going out. Among those who rarely go out or who leave their homes only once a week, people aged 60 and older made up the largest share at 6.4 percent, followed by those in their 20s (1.3 percent) and 40s (1.2 percent).
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
