Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has shared its annual Online Nation report for 2023. The document explores the UK population’s engagement with dating services, stating that 1 in 10 British online adults used a dating service in May of this year.
In its annual report on online behaviours and trends, Ofcom highlighted which dating platforms are most popular in the UK, and the average time spent on these apps.
Engagement and Popularity
Match Group, which operates dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, etc, were used by 7% of all UK online adults in May 2023. In the same period, Bumble Inc, which operates Bumble and Badoo, saw engagement from 4% of UK online adults.
Overall Tinder saw the highest reach among adults in the UK in May of this year. However when looking at the average time spent on the platform, Tinder (1 hr 12 mins) saw less engagement time than Hinge (2+ hrs), Bumble (2+ hrs), Grindr (6+ hrs), and Badoo (3+ hrs).
Age Demographics
When looking at age demographics, 25-34 year olds saw the highest engagement with dating services of any generation. Certain dating apps saw higher engagement among certain age demographics.
For example, 73% of individuals using Hinge were between 18 and 34 years old. However, apps such as Plenty of Fish, Badoo, and happn had more than half of their users in the 35 – 54 year old demographic.
Gender Demographics
Based on statistics recorded in May 2023, engagement with online dating platforms was split 61% male and 39% female. A similar proportion of male and female users were recorded on the majority of dating apps.
However, there were two exceptions to this trend. Dating app PURE (54%) and Match (51%) saw marginally more women using its platform than men.
Overall, the report found that nearly 48 million UK adults accessed the internet in May 2023. Ofcom shares that the average person spends 3 hours and 41 minutes online, with people aged 18-24 spending around an hour more time online than this average.
