Table for one? More people say they eat all their meals alone.

• About one in four US adults said they ate all their meals alone the previous day, new analysis found.
• The 2025 World Happiness Report found solo dining spiked during the pandemic and remains elevated.
• Sharing meals is a stronger predictor of well-being than income or unemployment, it found.

More people say they’ve been eating all their meals alone in a trend that could affect their well-being, according to new analysis.

The 2025 World Happiness Report published Thursday found that 26% of US adults surveyed said they ate every meal alone the previous day. That figure rose by more than 50% between 2003 and 2023.

The data was drawn from the American Time Use Survey, which collected responses from about 235,000 US adults over the two-decade period.

The rise in solo dining started well before the COVID-19 pandemic, with a spike in 2011, before reaching some of the highest levels at the height of the pandemic. It’s continued rising, especially for young people, with the highest levels of dining alone recorded among those under 35 — along with those who live alone.

In 2023, nearly 70% of people who lived alone reported eating all their meals alone, compared to 20% for those who lived with others.

By order of comparison, the US ranked 69th globally in meal sharing, standing behind Canada, which ranked 53rd with 8.4 meals shared a week, and ahead of the UK, which ranked 81st.

Causes and impact on happiness

The report attributes the rise in solo dining to the rise in the number of people living alone, irregular work schedules, and the rise of remote work.

While smartphones and social media are often blamed for reduced social interaction, the report found no direct correlation between the platforms’ launches in the mid-2000s and the rise in eating alone.

The report also analyzed survey responses for 142 countries collected by the Gallup World Poll in 2022 and 2023. It found that sharing more meals is strongly linked to higher life evaluations and better emotional health across regions, genders, and age groups, making it a key factor in overall life satisfaction.

The happiness report finds that meal sharing is a stronger predictor of well-being than income and unemployment combined, and dining alone has a greater impact on life evaluation than unemployment.

The US slipped to its lowest ranking in the 13-year history of the World Happiness Report, landing at 24th place, partly because of the rising number of people eating alone.

Another issue highlighted in the report is the US’s high and increasing rate of “deaths of despair” — preventable deaths from suicide, alcohol abuse, and drug overdose.

Since the report’s launch in 2012, the US has never ranked in the top 10, with its highest ranking being 11th in the report’s first year.