Online Dating Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2028)

Online Dating Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2028)

Online dating—also referred to as Internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating—is a relatively new practice in which individuals utilize the internet to look for and communicate with potential romantic or sexual partners. The popularity of online dating applications, rising smartphone usage, and increased internet penetration are all likely to contribute to the online dating market growth. However, it is anticipated that rising online fraud and data breaches caused by dating apps will impede industry expansion.

The market players are following both organic and inorganic growth strategies to sustain the competitive edge. For instance, in March 2020, Tinder Inc. announced that the company recorded more than 3 billion swipes led to increased growth of online dating apps. Similarly, in February 2020, the Dating app Plenty of Fish announced the industry’s first Member Pod, an advisory council comprised of real users. The main idea or goal of the Member Pod is to obtain feedback from a diverse range of people to foster innovation and development and enhance the Plenty of Fish experience.

• Based on the platform, the market is segmented into application and web portals. The application segment led the online dating market with a larger revenue share of more than 80% in 2020. Globally, a sizable portion of the young population uses mobile applications for online dating, which supports the market share even more. Additionally, the market share was boosted by the rising global popularity of apps like Tinder, Bumble, Badoo, and others. For instance, the average Tinder user base increased to 10.4 million in 2020 from 7.9 million in 2018. Therefore, the increasing number of subscribers demonstrates the growing popularity of such online dating apps, which further contributed to the highest market share. During the forecast period, it is expected that the web portals market will expand at a significant CAGR of 6.2%. Additionally boosting the growth is the increasing number of internet users and the widespread use of online dating services. As an illustration, one of the most popular online dating services, eHarmony, has roughly 15 million matches. Further anticipated market growth results from significant developments in consumer interest tracing tools and website advertising tools.
• Based on revenue generation, the market is divided into subscription and advertisement. The subscription segment accounted for the largest revenue share of more than 62% in 2020 and is also anticipated to continue its dominance during the forecast period (2022-2028). Applications that are available for free have a limited feature set and require a subscription to access premium features. As a result, the majority of users use subscription-based access to the features. Unlimited likes and swipes, no advertisements, and read receipts are included in paid subscriptions.
• For a better understanding of the market adoption of the online dating industry, the market is analyzed based on its worldwide presence in the countries such as North America (U.S., Canada, and the Rest of North America), Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Rest of World. North America dominated the online dating market with a share of more than 35% in 2020. This can be attributed to the region having reputable online dating services. Additionally, among all other regions, the Asian-Pacific market is expected to expand quickly with the highest CAGR. The widespread use of smartphones and rising internet usage in the area are both responsible for the market's rapid expansion. The rising popularity of these online application services in the Asian region has also been boosted by hectic schedules. On the other hand, due to the growing internet penetration, many Asia Pacific nations adopt a casual approach to dating via online applications. The average amount of time spent by Chinese adults has increased by more than 30% during the pandemic period of around, according to the Chinese dating services app "Tantan."
• Some of the major players operating in the market include Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, Cupid Media Pty Ltd, eharmony Inc., EliteSingles, Match Group (Tinder), rsvp.com.au Pty Ltd, Spark Networks SE, The League, and The Meet Group. The market is diversified with a large number of global and regional market players.