Portuguese Have Fewer Friends Than a Decade Ago — ISCTE Study Links Growing Loneliness to Youth and Poverty

The Portuguese have fewer close friends, socialise less frequently, and feel lonelier than they did ten years ago — with young adults and people on low incomes suffering the sharpest decline. Those are the central findings of a major study published on Friday by ISCTE — Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, titled A Amizade em Portugal — Como é? O que Mudou?, which compared survey data from 2025 with a baseline set in 2015 to measure how social relationships in Portugal have changed over a decade that included a pandemic, an inflation crisis, and a housing squeeze.

A Clear Reduction in Social Capital

"Comparing 2025 with 2015, the difference is evident: there is a clear reduction in the number of close friends, an increase in the feeling of loneliness, and a decrease in social integration — despite people not seeming to be aware of this change," said Luísa Lima, the study's lead researcher, in the summary document accompanying the release.

The numbers paint a stark picture. Roughly 60 percent of respondents said they believed their social relationships had not changed, and only 20 percent acknowledged they had worsened. Yet the objective data — frequency of contact, number of named close friends, self-reported social participation — told a different story. The gap between perception and reality, the researchers suggest, is part of the problem: people are becoming more isolated without fully registering the shift.

Who Is Most Affected

The study found that the deterioration in social connections is not evenly distributed. Three groups stand out.

Young adults. Contrary to the popular assumption that loneliness is primarily a problem for the elderly, the ISCTE data shows that people aged 18 to 34 have experienced the greatest decline in the number of friends and the sharpest increase in feelings of isolation since the pre-pandemic baseline. "Above all, younger people currently feel lonelier, have reduced their number of friends and close friends, and in recent years have fewer social practices than before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020," the authors wrote.

People on low incomes. The correlation between poverty and social isolation is one of the study's most striking findings. Among the poorest respondents, 43 percent reported feeling lonely, compared with just 13 percent among the wealthiest. Those with lower incomes also had fewer friends, socialised less often, and were less likely to belong to community or civic groups. "People with lower incomes reduced their number of friends, socialise less with others, and feel more loneliness. They are the group that has lost the most in the last ten years in terms of relationships, social capital, health, and well-being," Lima said.

Precarious and unemployed workers. Among people in precarious employment, 24 percent reported loneliness — compared with 18 percent for those with stable contracts. Among the unemployed, the figure rose to 39 percent. People living alone reported loneliness at a rate of 33 percent, versus 20 percent for those in shared households. LGBT+ individuals also reported significantly higher rates of isolation — 35 percent compared with 21 percent among heterosexual respondents.

Why Friendship Matters More Than Family for Wellbeing

One of the study's more provocative findings is that the quality of friendships appears to be a stronger predictor of happiness and health outcomes than family relationships. "Having good friends appears to be good for health," the researchers concluded, noting that robust social connections outside the family unit were consistently associated with higher self-reported wellbeing across all age groups and income levels.

This aligns with a growing body of international evidence — the World Health Organisation declared loneliness a public health concern in 2023, and the US Surgeon General issued a formal advisory the same year warning that social disconnection carried health risks equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Portugal's data now adds a Southern European dimension to what has largely been framed as an Anglophone or Northern European problem.

Structural Causes, Not Just Personal Choices

The researchers are explicit that loneliness in Portugal is not simply a matter of individual behaviour or personality. "This result shows that loneliness does not depend solely on personal variables, but on structural causes linked to belonging to socially devalued groups," Lima said.

The structural dimension is impossible to ignore in Portugal's current context. Housing costs have risen sharply across the country — with rents in Lisbon now averaging EUR 1,250 per month for a one-bedroom flat in the city centre — forcing younger workers and lower-income families into longer commutes, smaller living spaces, and peripheral neighbourhoods with fewer social amenities. The erosion of traditional third places — neighbourhood cafés, public squares, community centres — has been well documented in urban planning research, and Portugal is no exception.

The pandemic accelerated trends that were already underway. Remote work, while beneficial for some, reduced the casual workplace interactions that many people relied on for social contact. The shift to digital communication, meanwhile, appears to have been a poor substitute for in-person connection — a finding consistent with studies across Europe showing that increased screen time correlates with decreased social satisfaction.

What the Researchers Recommend

The study's policy recommendations focus on local government. The researchers call for the "removal of economic obstacles" to socialising — a recognition that, for many Portuguese, meeting friends requires spending money they do not have. They advocate for the creation and improvement of "quality public spaces for socialising whose use does not require spending money," a direct appeal to municipal authorities to invest in free, accessible gathering places.

For expats in Portugal — many of whom left established social networks in their home countries — the findings carry a particular resonance. Building a social life from scratch is one of the most commonly reported challenges of relocation, and the data suggests that the Portuguese society they are integrating into is itself becoming more fragmented. Community organisations, co-working spaces, sports clubs, and volunteer networks may be more important than ever as pathways to meaningful connection — for newcomers and long-term residents alike.