The number of people living in Luxembourg who feel they have nobody to turn to for help is twice the European Union average.

Figures from a Eurostat survey reveal 13 per cent of people in the Grand-Duchy have nobody to ask for help if they need it -- the highest rate across all EU countries, along with Italy.

The EU average is six per cent.

The survey found the situation looks best in the Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia and Sweden where only two per cent of those asked said they felt a sense of loneliness when they need help.

Those taking part in the survey, carried out in 2015, were also asked if they felt they had nobody with whom they could discuss personal matters.

Luxembourg scored just below the EU average of 6.1 per cent.

The highest numbers were recorded in France and Italy, with 12 per cent, and the lowest in Cyprus, Spain, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, at two per cent.

(Heledd Pritchard, heledd.pritchard@wort.lu, +352 49 93 459)