Gleeden–Ipsos Survey 2026: Happy but Lonely, Fact-Checked

In July 2026 a headline did the rounds: 57% of Indians feel lonely despite happy relationships. It is a striking line, and it matches something many married people quietly recognise. But where does the number come from, who paid for it, and is it even new?

We traced each figure back to the releases it appeared in. The short version: this is a survey commissioned by Gleeden, an extramarital dating app, and run by Ipsos. The July 2026 report does not look like a fresh survey. Its sample size and most of its numbers match a study Ipsos ran in May 2025, and its two headline figures were already published in February 2026.

Who ran the Gleeden–Ipsos survey, and on whom

The July 2026 piece on indiantelevision.com (15 July 2026) describes "an IPSOS study commissioned by Gleeden" among 1,510 respondents across India's major cities. It names no cities and gives no age range, fieldwork dates or method. It does not say whether respondents were married, dating or single, though many of the questions are about "current relationships". No one from Gleeden or Ipsos is quoted.

The sample of 1,510 is not new. A PTI-distributed press release from July 2025 says Gleeden "commissioned a third edition of its national relationship study" with Ipsos, conducted in May 2025 on 1,510 respondents aged 18 to 60, men and women, in 12 Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Patna, Ludhiana and Kochi. That release also does not say how many respondents were married.

So the most reasonable reading is that the July 2026 article reports results from the May 2025 fieldwork, mixed with figures from a later release. We found no published methodology note showing a new round of fieldwork in 2026.

The February 2026 release, and the "singles" label

The 92% and 57% figures first appeared in a press release dated 26 February 2026, carried by The Tribune from a PTI feed with a note that PTI "takes no editorial responsibility" for it. That release, mostly about how people use AI chatbots in their relationships, describes "a sample of 1500 individuals from both tier 1 and tier 2 cities" and says that of those who answered about their romantic life, 92% are content and 57% report feelings of loneliness.

Global Dating Insights (27 March 2026) headlined its coverage "57% of Indian singles lonely", but its own text says 57% "feel lonely in their relationship". Neither the February release nor the March coverage says the respondents were singles. The word appears only in the headline. Earlier we repeated that label ourselves; the releases do not support it.

Two more details matter. The February sample is 1,500; the 2025 sample is 1,510. And none of the releases gives fieldwork dates for the February figures. We cannot tell from public material whether 92% and 57% come from the May 2025 fieldwork or a separate one. What we can say is that the July 2026 "new nationwide study" repeats them rather than producing them.

The 7 numbers, and what each can tell you

Finding	Figure	What it can and cannot tell you
Happy in their current relationship	92%	Same figure as the February 2026 release ("content" with romantic life). The May 2025 release reported 94% happy. Self-rated happiness in a survey from a dating brand is a mood reading, not a measure of marital quality.
Experience loneliness	57%	Per GDI, this splits into 20% who feel it all the time and 37% sometimes. "Sometimes lonely" is a much lower bar than chronic loneliness. Not a study of married couples.
Emotional connection is the biggest missing element	51%	Matches the May 2025 release, where 51% said they feel emotionally disconnected from their partner. Also listed in July 2026: better communication 44%, excitement 42%, physical intimacy 38%. The question wording has shifted between releases.
Frequently think about connections outside the relationship	"Nearly 46%" overall; 54% of Gen X	The 54% Gen X figure is in the May 2025 release. We could not find the 46% overall figure in any earlier release. Thinking about something is not doing it.
Admitted emotional or physical infidelity	64%	The May 2025 release used 64% for a different thing: flirting on social media while in a relationship. The same release put infidelity at 43% of men and 42% of women. We cannot reconcile these.
Would forgive a one-time mistake with genuine remorse	"Around 62%"	In the May 2025 release, 62% is the share of millennials who want to understand the reason behind infidelity before deciding. Treat the forgiveness framing as unconfirmed. The July piece also says 47% see infidelity as a dealbreaker.
Infidelity down vs 2023	16%	No 2023 baseline is given, and it is unclear whether this is 16 percentage points or a 16% relative fall. The 2023 Gleeden–Ipsos study surveyed a different group (see below).

Does the "16% decline since 2023" hold up?

Not from what is public. The 2023 survey, reported by Global Dating Insights in March 2023, polled 1,503 married Indians aged 25 to 50, and 57% said they had been unfaithful. The 2025 study covered people aged 18 to 60, not limited to married people. Comparing infidelity rates across two different populations tells you very little, and comparing 57% with a later 64% while calling it a decline makes no sense without more detail. Until Gleeden or Ipsos publish the baseline and the question wording, treat the 16% as a claim, not a finding.

Why commissioned surveys deserve caution

None of this means the numbers are invented. Ipsos is a large, established research firm. But a commissioned survey answers the questions the client chose, worded the way the client approved, and the client decides which results to release. Gleeden sells a service to people looking outside their marriage. Findings that make infidelity sound common, understandable and forgivable suit that business. That is not proof of bias, but it is a reason to ask for the full questionnaire.

Here is what was missing from every release we checked:

• The questionnaire. "Lonely" and "emotionally disconnected" mean different things depending on how the question is asked.
• Method. None of the releases says whether the survey was online, by phone or face to face. Online panels in Indian cities skew younger, more urban and more connected.
• Who was asked. We still do not know what share were married.
• Margins of error and how the sample was weighted.
• Dates. The July 2026 article gives none, and reads as new.

Also notice how numbers drift as they move from release to article. A 62% about millennials wanting to understand why becomes 62% who would forgive. A 64% about flirting becomes 64% unfaithful. Most readers never see the original release, so the drifted version is what spreads.

What is still worth taking from it

Strip away the precision and one pattern is consistent across every release: a large share of people say they are broadly happy with their partner and still feel lonely, and lack of emotional connection tops the list of what is missing. That fits independent research. A peer-reviewed study of 1,084 married adults in India, by Kanishka Varyani and Ritu Sharma in Mental Health and Social Inclusion, found 46.4% had a moderately high level of loneliness and a strong link between marital quality and loneliness.

So the feeling is real, and common. The exact percentages are softer than the headlines suggest. If the survey describes your own situation, being happy on paper and lonely in practice, our guide on being married but lonely covers why it happens and what helps. If the missing connection has started to find somewhere else to go, read what an emotional affair actually is. For how other platform numbers about Indian infidelity stand up, see our fact-check of extramarital dating statistics in India, and our look at what Gleeden is and how safe it is.

Quick answers

What did the 2026 Gleeden–Ipsos survey find?

As reported in July 2026, 92% of respondents said they were happy in their relationships while 57% said they experience loneliness, and 51% named emotional connection as the biggest missing element. The sample was 1,510 people in Indian cities.

Is the July 2026 Gleeden survey new?

It does not appear to be. Its sample size and most figures match a study Ipsos conducted for Gleeden in May 2025, and the 92% and 57% figures were already published in February 2026. No fieldwork dates were given.

Were the respondents single or married?

None of the releases says. A headline called them "singles", but the text refers to people's current relationships. The separate 2023 Gleeden–Ipsos survey was of married Indians aged 25 to 50.

Can I trust surveys commissioned by dating apps?

Treat them as a starting point, not proof. Look for the questionnaire, method, sample and dates. When those are missing, as here, trust the general pattern more than the exact numbers.