Making Friends After 40 Across London's Boroughs

London has more women in their 40s than any other English region, yet many of us see our friends less than we would like. Here is how to fix that without crossing the whole city.

Friendship after 40 in London: four women laughing together at an outdoor café table at dusk

671K+

Women in their 40s across London (ONS, mid-2025)

14%

Of Londoners are aged 40–49, the highest of England’s nine regions (ONS)

105K+

Margin by which London women in their 40s outnumber those in their 50s (ONS)

Your 40s in London: Plenty of Company, Little Time

The latest ONS figures, for mid-2025, count more than 671,000 London women in their 40s, and at 14% of residents that age group makes up a bigger share of the population here than in any other English region. So you are not short of peers. What tends to run out is time and geography: friends from your 20s have scattered to the suburbs, the commuter belt or abroad, and a catch-up across town can take more planning than a holiday. For anyone trying to make friends after 40 in London, the answer is usually closer to home. A weekly class, a running club or a regular table at the local pub quiz in your own borough builds the repeat contact friendships need. Our borough pages below cover Barnet, Brent, Bexley, Hounslow and Barking and Dagenham.

Two Reads for Your Next Quiet Evening

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Losing touch with a friend rarely happens on purpose. Here’s how to reconnect with old friends this autumn – gently, honestly, and without overthinking the first message.

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How Long Does It Take to Become Best Friends? The Genuine Numbers Behind a Difficult Truth

How long does it take to become best friends? Research says hundreds of hours, but there’s a real timeline behind the numbers.

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Who Is Behind This Page

Claudia Gard and Ulrika Lilja, Gofrendly’s editors, wrote this After 40 page for London. They focused on one practical problem: keeping friendships going in a city where everyone is busy and far apart.