By bizn_fun 
Apotek Hjärtat’s project comes as Sweden’s right-wing coalition government is putting the spotlight on loneliness. In July, Sweden’s Public Health Agency released Sweden’s first national strategy aimed at minimising loneliness, commissioned by the government.
A core part of the strategy is increased collaboration between the business community, municipalities, researchers and civil society. Health Minister Jakob Forssmed has described loneliness as major public health concern, citing global research linking the problem to an increased risk of illnesses including coronary heart disease and strokes, and a greater likelihood of early mortality.
Businesses should be worried about it, he suggests, since their employees and customers are at risk, and public finances are impacted by healthcare and sick leave costs linked to loneliness.
“We need to… have a greater awareness about this, that this is something that really affects health, and affects [the] economy as well,” says Forssmed.
A national loneliness epidemic? Research for the EU suggests around 14% of Sweden’s population report feeling lonely some or all of the time, slightly higher than the EU average.
A separate study for the state’s number-crunching agency Statistics Sweden in 2024 found that 8% of adults in Sweden don’t have a single close friend.
Daniel Ek, a Swedish psychologist and co-author of The Power of Friendship, a handbook on how to develop deeper relationships, argues that in Sweden the country’s cold, dark winters can discourage people from socialising, alongside cultural factors.
“The Swedish mentality is like – you shouldn’t disturb others. We value personal space a lot, and we have a hard time breaking the ice,” he says. Sweden’s housing may also play a role, Ek suggests.
More than 40% of homes are occupied by just one person, and a July’s report by Sweden’s Public Health Agency indicated there are higher levels of loneliness amongst this group.