Life in the UK 2025: standout statistics
The statistics below are drawn from our Life in the UK Index, which provides a unique insight into how people across the UK feel about their lives. It looks at wellbeing across four key areas: social, democratic, economic and environmental.
The findings are based on a representative sample of 7,106 people, collected in May 2025. The index helps us understand whether life is getting better or worse for people, and where action is needed to support collective wellbeing.
To explore the full picture, read our Life in the UK 2025 report.
We have also published breakdowns by UK jurisdiction, so you can see how people’s experiences vary across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Social wellbeing – standout statistics
- 68% report that their general health is good or very good, and 65% that their mental health is good or very good. Both general health and mental health have improved by three percentage points since 2023 when the proportion reporting good or very good health was 65% and the proportion reporting good or very good mental health was 62%.
- 28% of people in the UK say they feel unsafe or very unsafe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark.
- 15% of people in the UK say they don’t have anyone to rely on in their neighbourhood.
- 6% of people in the UK think it’s difficult to access a grocery shop/supermarket in person. This has increased by one percentage point since 2023.
- 44% of people in the UK say they have experienced discrimination in the past year, four percentage points higher than in 2023 (40%).
Economic wellbeing – standout statistics
- 79% of people in the UK can afford to keep their home warm, six percentage points higher than in 2023 (73%).
- 89% of people in the UK can afford to buy enough food for everyone in their household.
- 62% of people in the UK can afford to pay an unexpected expense of £850.
- 81% of people in the UK can afford to socialise with friends and/or family outside of the home once a month, two percentage points higher than in 2023 (79%).
- 21% of people in the UK can’t afford to go on holiday away from home for a week, two percentage points lower than in 2024 (23%).
- 26% of people in the UK are satisfied with job opportunities in their local area, five percentage points lower than in 2023 (31%).
Environmental wellbeing – standout statistics
- Many people in the UK experience issues with litter (83%), noise (64%) and air quality (52%) in their neighbourhood. The proportion of people experiencing problems with litter was three percentage points higher than in 2023 (80%) as was problems with noise pollution (61%).
- 40% of people in the UK are dissatisfied with current efforts to preserve the environment. This dissatisfaction has lessened since 2024, when it was 44%.
- 12% of people in the UK are dissatisfied with the quality of their nearest local public, green or open space.
Democratic wellbeing – standout statistics
- 72% of people don’t feel they can influence decisions affecting the UK or their local area.
- 45% of people in the UK have low trust in the UK government, six percentage points higher than in 2024 (53%).
- 29% of people in the UK have low trust in their local council, three percentage points lower than in 2023 (26%).
- 34% of people in the UK have low trust in the news media, four percentage points lower than in 2023 (38%).
- 29% of people in the UK have high trust in banks, four percentage points higher than in 2024 (25%).
- 19% of people in the UK have low trust in the legal system and courts, three percentage points higher than in 2023 (23%).
- 60% of people in the UK have low trust in social media and 42% have low trust in big tech companies like Google and Apple. Both were four percentage points higher than in 2024 when 56% of people had low trust in social media and 38% had low trust in big tech companies.
Want to chat about our Life in the UK data?
Get in touch with Anna Francis.
Anna is a senior researcher at Carnegie UK focussing on data and insight. She analyses Life in the UK data and external data to generate insights into wellbeing across the UK and Ireland.
Previously, Anna was a health data analyst at Asthma + Lung UK and studied heart disease during her PhD at Cambridge University.
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