Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: April 2025

The following information is from data collected from 2 to 27 April 2025, based on adults in Great Britain.

• When asked about the important issues facing the UK today, the most commonly reported issues were the cost of living (88%), the NHS (85%) and the economy (74%).
• Around 3 in 4 adults (72%) reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month; this proportion has increased from 66% in the previous period (5 to 30 March 2025).

This release coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week (12 to 18 May 2025) and includes further analysis on mental health, well-being and loneliness.

• In April 2025, 18% of all adults experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms, which were more prevalent in younger adults; 26% of adults aged 16 to 29 years compared with 20% of those aged 30 to 49 years, 18% of those aged 50 to 69 years and 8% of those aged 70 years and over.

• Among all adults, the most commonly reported worries over the past two weeks were: social or political issues (44%), financial issues (42%) and health (42%), which increased to 52%, 67% and 66%, respectively, among those with moderate to severe depressive symptoms.

• Around 7 in 10 (67%) adults reported high trust in most people; adults with moderate to severe depressive symptoms reported lower levels of trust in people (44% compared with 72% among those with no or mild depressive symptoms).

• Adults aged 16 to 29 years were more likely to have spent quality time with family and friends to look after their well-being (79% compared with 65% among all adults), while those aged 70 years and over were more likely to have eaten a balanced or healthy diet (61% compared with 50% among all adults).

• Younger adults reported higher levels of loneliness often, always or some of the time (31% among adults aged 16 to 29 years compared with 25% among adults aged 30 to 49 years, 21% among adults aged 50 to 69 years and 16% among adults aged 70 years and over).

• When asked about the most important factors for well-being in their community, 74% of adults reported feeling safe; other important factors included trust between people (59%), feeling that you belong (50%), having the facilities you need (50%) and the quality of the environment and how it is cared for (50%).

In the latest period (2 to 27 April 2025), the cost of living (88%) and the NHS (85%) remain the two most reported important issues facing the UK (Figure 1).

The proportion of adults reporting the NHS as an important issue has generally remained stable since October 2022 (82%). The proportion of adults reporting the cost of living as an important issue gradually decreased to 87% in December 2023 and has remained relatively stable since.

Figure 1: The cost of living, the NHS and the economy have been the most commonly reported important issues facing the UK since October 2022

Proportion of adults reporting each important issue, Great Britain, October 2022 to April 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option. 

Between 2 and 27 April 2025, around 3 in 4 adults (72%) reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month (Figure 2). This proportion has been increasing since a low of 45% between 5 and 28 July 2024 and is now at a similar level to 19 April to 1 May 2023 (70%).

Around a quarter (27%) of adults reported that their cost of living had stayed the same; a fall from 33% in the previous reporting period of 5 to 30 March 2025. Just 2% of adults said that their cost of living had decreased in the last month.

Prevalence of depressive symptoms

Respondents were asked a range of questions (the Patient Health Questionnaire – PHQ8), which provides an assessment of depressive symptoms experienced by respondents. Adults who scored over a certain threshold (10 or more) were scored as experiencing "moderate to severe depressive symptoms". Further information can be found in Section 8: Glossary.

In April 2025, just under 1 in 5 (18%) adults aged 16 years and over reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Similar rates were reported the last time we asked these questions in autumn 2022 (9 September to 23 October 2022) when 16% reported this; and in summer 2021 (21 July to 15 August 2021) when 17% reported this.

The rates of moderate to severe depressive symptoms decreased with age. Around 1 in 4 (26%) adults aged 16 to 29 years were experiencing moderate to severe symptoms compared with 20% of those aged 30 to 49 years, 18% of those aged 50 to 69 years and 8% of those aged 70 years and over (Figure 3).

Previous estimates of adults experiencing some form of depression were published in August 2020, December 2020, May 2021, October 2021 and November 2022.

Time series estimates of depressive symptoms by characteristics, including age, sex and region, can be found in this accompanying dataset.

Worries in the past two weeks

In the latest period, 15% of all adults said that they had not had any worries in the past two weeks. Those aged 70 years and over were more likely to report no worries (20%) than those aged 16 to 29 years (13%).

Among all adults, the most commonly reported worries in the past two weeks were:

• social or political issues (44%)

• financial issues (42%)

• health (42%)

These proportions were significantly higher among those experiencing moderate to severe depressive symptoms when compared with those experiencing no or mild depressive symptoms (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Adults with moderate to severe depressive symptoms reported worrying most about financial issues and health in the past two weeks

Proportion of adults reporting issues that they had been worried about in the past two weeks, Great Britain, 2 to 27 April 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option.

Actions taken to look after well-being

Among all adults, the majority undertook some action in the past two weeks to look after their well-being, with just 6% reporting that they did not take any actions.

The most commonly reported actions among all adults were:

• spending time outdoors (67%)

• spending quality time with family and friends (65%)

• being physically active (56%)

• eating a balanced or healthy diet (50%)

Some differences appeared between those with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and those with no or mild depressive symptoms.

Adults experiencing moderate to severe symptoms were more likely to report that they tried to get more sleep or rest (53% compared with 39%) or sought help from a medical professional or counsellor (25% compared with 8%), while those with no or mild symptoms were more likely to have been physically active (60% compared with 38%) or to have eaten a balanced or healthy diet (55% compared with 27%). It is worth noting, however, that some of these differences may be driven by factors other than depressive symptoms. 

Adults aged 16 to 29 years were more likely to have spent quality time with family and friends to look after their well-being (79%) than any other age group. Women (71%) were also more likely to report this than men (58%).

Those aged 70 years and over were more likely to have eaten a balanced or healthy diet (61%) compared with any other age group (Figure 5).

We asked people to tell us how much, in general, they trusted most people, on a scale from 0 to 10. Where scores 6 and above indicate high levels of trust, we found that 67% of adults reported high trust in most people.

Adults aged 70 years and over reported higher levels of trust than any other age group (80% compared with 62% for those aged 16 to 29 years, 63% for those aged 30 to 49 years and 66% for those aged 50 to 69 years).

Adults with moderate to severe depressive symptoms reported lower levels of trust in people (44% compared with 72% among those with no or mild depressive symptoms) (Figure 6).

Similar differences appeared when we asked people to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the statement: "I can rely on the people in my life if I have a serious problem".

The majority of adults either agreed or strongly agreed with this statement across all ages, with higher rates of agreement for adults aged 70 years and over (86% among all adults; 86% among those aged 16 to 29 years, 84% among those aged 30 to 49 years, 85% among those aged 50 to 69 years and 92% among those aged 70 years and over) (Figure 7).

Around 7 in 10 (70%) of adults with moderate to severe depressive symptoms either agreed or strongly agreed that they can rely on the people in their life if they had a serious problem; significantly lower than those with no or mild depressive symptoms (90%).

Belonging to the community

Over half (53%) of all adults said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I feel like I belong to this neighbourhood”.

Adults with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were less likely to feel they belonged to their neighbourhood (35%) compared with those with no or mild depressive symptoms (57%). Around 7 in 10 (68%) of those aged 70 years and over reported they felt they belonged to their neighbourhood, compared with around half (49%) of those aged 16 to 29 years.

We asked all adults to select what they thought was most important for the well-being of their community. Community was defined as a group the respondent felt a part of.

Feeling safe was selected by 74% of adults as the most important factor for community well-being (Figure 8). This was followed by:

• trust between people (59%)

• the feeling that you belong (50%)

• having the facilities you need (50%)

• the quality of the environment and how it is cared for (50%)

Feeling safe was the most important factor, irrespective of age and sex. However, women (78%) were more likely to report this than men (71%).

In the latest period, 1 in 4 adults (24%) reported feeling lonely "often, always or some of the time". A further quarter (26%) of adults reported feeling lonely "occasionally" and around 1 in 2 adults (48%) reported feeling lonely "hardly ever" or "never".

Younger adults consistently reported higher levels of loneliness "often, always or some of the time" (31% among adults aged 16 to 29 years compared with 25% among adults aged 30 to 49 years, 21% among adults aged 50 to 69 years and 16% among adults aged 70 years and over).

Feeling lonely "often, always or some of the time" increased to over half (55%) among adults experiencing moderate to severe depressive symptoms, around three times more likely than those with no or mild symptoms (16%) (Figure 9).

These findings are consistent with existing research showing experiences of loneliness to be more common among younger adults. Our Loneliness – What characteristics and circumstances are associated with feeling lonely? article examines this in greater detail.

Time series data from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) from March 2020 onwards of loneliness and other measures of personal well-being are available in our Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: personal well-being and loneliness dataset.

Hopefulness for the future

Respondents were asked to rate their level of hopefulness on an 11-point scale from 0 to 10 when asked; "Overall, how hopeful do you feel about your future?". We used a score of 6 and above to indicate high levels of hopefulness.

In the latest period, around 7 in 10 (69%) reported high levels of hopefulness for the future. This was lower for men (66%) than women (72%) and even less for adults experiencing moderate to severe depressive symptoms (37%).

Around three-quarters (75%) of adults aged 16 to 29 years reported high levels of hopefulness for the future. This generally decreased with age (69% among those aged 30 to 49 years, 67% among those aged 50 to 69 years and 66% among those aged 70 years and over).

Recent releases from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey

This week we also published data on the use of the NHS App in England and Wales, in addition to data on flooding. More information can be found on the user requested data page on our website.

Depressive symptoms

The presence of some form of depression was indicated by a score of 10 or more on the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ8), which is also referred to as moderate to severe depressive symptoms. A score of less than 10 indicated a lack of some form of depression, which is also referred to as no or mild depressive symptoms.

Respondents were asked the following questions from the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8):

a. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things?

b. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless?

c. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by having trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much?

d. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling tired or having little energy?

e. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by having a poor appetite or overeating?

f. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling negative about yourself or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down?

g. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by having trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television?

h. Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed; or being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual?

These questions had four response options ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day). A "depression score" was then derived by summing all responses chosen, resulting in a score ranging from 0 to 24. The higher the score, the greater the severity of depressive symptoms.

A person's PHQ-8 score sits in one of two categories:

• no or mild depressive symptoms – this refers to a depression (PHQ-8) score of between 0 and 9 (inclusive)
• moderate to severe depressive symptoms – this refers to a depression (PHQ-8) score of between 10 and 24 (inclusive)

The analysis in this bulletin is based on adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

In the latest period, 2 to 27 April 2025, we sampled 9,558 households. This sample was randomly selected from people who had previously completed the Labour Market Survey (LMS) or Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). The responding sample for the latest period contained 4,617 individuals, representing a 48% response rate.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population, based on our population estimates. Estimates for some groups of the population may be subject to greater uncertainty because of smaller sample sizes for these groups (for example, younger adults).

For all estimates in the datasets, confidence intervals are provided. Where comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences. In some cases, additional statistical hypothesis testing was performed to identify differences between groups.

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).