For Valentine’s Day, our data shines a light on the UK’s online dating habits.
Ofcom’s 2023 Online Nation report showed more than one in 10 UK online adults use online dating services*, with more men than women on the lookout for connections (61% vs. 39%).
Tinder is the top reaching dating service in the UK, used by 2.49m adults. Hinge came in second reaching 1.51m adults, followed by Bumble (1.44m), Grindr (924k) and Plenty of Fish (625k). Many people use more than one dating service.
Grindr users spend almost seven hours tapping on the app
While Tinder was the most popular dating app based on number of users, the average Grindr user clocked nearly a whopping seven hours (6hr 49min) during one month on the service. This is followed by Badoo users at three hours and 42 minutes and then Bumble at two hours and 22 minutes. Meanwhile Tinder users spent just one hour and 13 minutes on the app.
Young hearts Hinge, silver foxes Grind(r)
Dating services are used by a fifth of those online aged between 25-34, more than any other age group, closely followed by online 18- to 24-year-olds (17%).
Hinge is most popular app with younger adults – three quarters (73%) of its users are 18- 34-year-olds. Over half of Plenty of Fish, Badoo, and Happn users are aged between 35 and 54, and OurTime – a dating service for the over-50s – unsurprisingly has users mostly aged over 55 at 63%, although Grindr is the most popular dating service for this age group overall.
And if you don’t have a date this Valentine’s Day, or if you’re staying in…
Nearly three in 10 UK online adults visit pornographic content services, and almost three-quarters of visitors are men . On average, porn visitors spend one hour and 56 minutes per month on these services.
The most popular time of day to visit porn sites is during working hours (9am-5:29pm), with one in five online adults doing so. This is followed by nighttime through to breakfast (midnight-8:59am, 18%) and then evening (8am-11:59pm, 17%).
Pornhub is the most popular porn site in the UK, with 8.4m adults visiting the site, followed by Chaturbate (4.2m) and Xvideos (4m).
*Data represents UK online adult visitors of online dating services and pornographic content services in May 2023 only. Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, age: 18+, UK.