U.S. consumers reported losing 1.16 billion dollars to romance scams in just the first nine months of 2025, a 22% jump over the same period in 2024 (Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network 2025). Online dating keeps growing anyway: roughly 380 million people used online dating services worldwide in 2025 (Statista, Online Dating Outlook 2025), and 27% of couples who married in 2025 first connected on a dating app or website (The Knot, 2025 Real Weddings Study). At the same time the business is contracting: Match Group’s paying users fell 5% to 13.8 million even as revenue per payer rose 7% (Match Group, Q4 2025). This analysis consolidates data from the FTC, the FBI, Pew Research Center, SSRS, Match Group, Bumble, Norton, Barclays, and 9 other primary sources to map who is dating online, what the platforms earn, and where the safety risks now concentrate.
TL;DR
- About 380 million people used online dating services worldwide in 2025 (Statista, 2025).
- 39% of U.S. adults have ever used a dating site or app; 65% among ages 18 to 29 (SSRS, February 2025).
- 27% of couples who married in 2025 first connected on a dating app or website (The Knot, 2025 Real Weddings Study).
- Match Group total payers fell 5% to 13.8 million in Q4 2025; Tinder payers fell 8% (Match Group, Q4 2025).
- Bumble’s full-year 2025 revenue dropped 9.9% to 965.7 million dollars; paying users fell 21% (Bumble, FY2025).
- Hinge grew full-year direct revenue 26% to 691 million dollars and payers 17% (Match Group, FY2025).
- Romance scam losses reached 1.16 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2025, up 22% (FTC, 2025).
- The FBI logged 929 million dollars in confidence and romance losses for full-year 2025 (FBI IC3, 2025).
- Norton blocked over 17 million dating-scam attacks in Q4 2025, up 19% year over year (Norton, 2026).
- 78% of dating-app users report burnout; 56% of Gen Z singles now prioritize meeting in person (Forbes Health 2025; Barclays 2026).
- Hinge profiles with a Voice Prompt are 32% more likely to lead to a date (Hinge, 2026).
1. Market Size and the Global User Base
The user pool is still large and still growing, but revenue growth has stalled at the category leaders. Roughly 380 million people used online dating services worldwide in 2025 (Statista), while app-analytics firms count about 360 million dating-app users specifically. The gap between those two figures reflects definitions: Statista’s broad Dating Services segment folds in matchmaking and casual dating, whereas app trackers count installs of the major apps. Estimates of total market revenue range from Statista’s narrow 3.24 billion dollar Online Dating segment for 2026 up to broader multi-billion figures, so cross-check the scope before quoting any single number.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Online dating users worldwide, 2025 | ~380 million | Statista, Online Dating Outlook |
| Dating-app users worldwide, 2025 | ~360 million | Sensor Tower, 2025 |
| Tinder platform users | ~90 million | Sensor Tower, 2025 |
| Online Dating segment revenue, 2026 (narrow) | 3.24 billion USD | Statista, 2026 |
| Dating Services segment revenue, 2026 (broad) | 8.43 billion USD | Statista, 2026 |
| Top 3 apps monthly consumer spend, May 2025 | ~340 million USD (record) | Appfigures, 2025 |
Outlier note: That May 2025 peak was also the ceiling. Appfigures data shows Bumble’s monthly revenue then fell roughly 20% from its high, a drop of about 16 million dollars, while Tinder posted its first-ever annual revenue decline for the full year.
2. Who Uses Dating Apps: Adoption and Demographics
Adoption is broad but heavily skewed by age, orientation, and gender. The most recent U.S. survey, from SSRS in February 2025, found 39% of adults have ever used a dating site or app, and 65% of those aged 18 to 29 have. That is higher than Pew Research Center’s 30% figure, but Pew’s most comprehensive read is now three years old (fielded July 2022), so treat SSRS as the current benchmark and Pew as the deeper demographic breakdown. Both agree the audience skews young and male among active users, and both show LGB adults adopting at far higher rates than straight adults.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. adults who have ever used a dating app | 39% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| U.S. adults currently using a dating app | 7% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| Adults 18 to 29 who have ever used one | 65% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| Adults 30 to 49 who have ever used one | 49% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| Current users who are male vs female | 57% vs 38% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| LGB vs straight adults who have ever used one | 51% vs 28% | Pew Research Center, 2022 |
| Adults 65+ who have ever used one | 13% | Pew Research Center, 2022 |
Context: In the SSRS survey, shared family values ranked as the top matching priority, called very important by 57% of respondents, ahead of political beliefs (33%) and physical attractiveness (23%).
3. Platform Economics: Match Group, Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble
The public dating companies are shrinking their paying bases while squeezing more revenue from the users who remain. Match Group’s total payers fell 5% to 13.8 million in Q4 2025, yet revenue per payer rose 7% to 20.72 dollars, keeping total quarterly revenue up 2% at 878 million dollars (Match Group). The story splits sharply by brand: Tinder, still the largest app, keeps losing payers, while Hinge grew payers 17% to 1.9 million and full-year revenue 26%. Bumble is mid-reset, with paying users down 21% and full-year revenue off 9.9%. Appfigures data confirmed the structural shift, with Hinge’s monthly revenue overtaking Bumble’s across June through September 2025 for the first time since at least 2020.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Match Group total payers, Q4 2025 | 13.8 million (down 5% YoY) | Match Group, Q4 2025 |
| Tinder direct revenue, FY2025 | 1.9 billion USD (down 4%) | Match Group, FY2025 |
| Tinder payers, Q4 2025 | 8.8 million (down 8%) | Match Group, Q4 2025 |
| Hinge direct revenue, FY2025 | 691 million USD (up 26%) | Match Group, FY2025 |
| Bumble total revenue, FY2025 | 965.7 million USD (down 9.9%) | Bumble Inc, FY2025 |
| Bumble total paying users, Q4 2025 | 3.3 million (down 21%) | Bumble Inc, Q4 2025 |
| Bumble app ARPPU, Q4 2025 | 27.61 USD (up from 25.17) | Bumble Inc, Q4 2025 |
Outlier note: Even after Hinge’s climb, Tinder still generated roughly twice the revenue of its closest competitor across 2025, so scale and monetization efficiency are diverging inside the same portfolio (Appfigures, 2025).
4. How Couples Meet and Relationship Outcomes
For all the fatigue and fraud, dating apps remain the leading way U.S. couples form relationships. The Knot’s 2025 Real Weddings Study found 27% of couples who married in 2025 first connected on a dating app or website, the single largest meeting channel. That extends a two-decade trend documented by Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfeld: online meeting passed every offline method for heterosexual couples around 2017, when 39% reported meeting online, up from just 6.2% in 2009. Among app-met couples in The Knot’s study, Hinge led with about 36% of matches, ahead of Tinder at about 25%.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 marriages where the couple met on an app or site | 27% | The Knot, 2025 Real Weddings Study |
| App-met couples who used Hinge | ~36% | The Knot, 2025 Real Weddings Study |
| Heterosexual couples who met online, 2017 (most recent) | 39% | Stanford HCMST (Rosenfeld) |
| Heterosexual couples who met online, 2009 | 6.2% | Stanford HCMST (Rosenfeld) |
| Partnered adults under 30 who met online | 20% | Pew Research Center, 2022 |
| Partnered LGB adults who met online | 24% | Pew Research Center, 2022 |
Context: Pew found about 12% of online daters have married or entered a committed relationship with someone they met on an app, a reminder that the funnel from swipe to lasting partnership stays narrow.
5. Voice Notes and Communication Behavior
Voice is now a measurable conversion lever inside dating apps, not a novelty. Hinge reports that profiles with a Voice Prompt are 32% more likely to lead to a date, and sending a voice note during a conversation makes a date 48% more likely. Demand is generational: about 35% of Gen Z daters say they want to receive more voice notes, and 65% of daters say hearing someone’s voice helps them decide whether they are interested. Adoption climbed 34% between 2022 and 2023, with the average voice memo running about 30.6 seconds. The same shift toward audio is visible across messaging platforms, as our voice messaging statistics roundup documents.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Voice Prompt profiles more likely to get a date | 32% | Hinge Newsroom, 2026 |
| Voice note in conversation more likely to get a date | 48% | Hinge Newsroom, 2026 |
| Gen Z daters who want more voice notes | 35% | Hinge Newsroom, 2026 |
| Daters who say hearing a voice helps gauge interest | 65% | Daily Dot / Hinge |
| Increase in voice notes sent, 2022 to 2023 | 34% | Daily Dot / Hinge |
| Average voice memo length | 30.6 seconds | Daily Dot / Hinge |
Context: Hinge also found daters are 85% more inclined toward a second date when a match asks thoughtful questions, underscoring that tone and effort, not just looks, drive progression.
6. Dating App Fatigue and the Gen Z Shift
Burnout is the defining behavioral story of 2025 and 2026. A July 2025 Forbes Health survey found 78% of dating-app users experience burnout, with women more affected than men at 80% versus 74%. The leading cause is not rejection but emptiness: 40% cite difficulty finding a genuine connection, and 41% report being ghosted. That fatigue is redirecting behavior. U.S. search volume for matchmaker roughly doubled from about 2,370 monthly searches in January 2025 to about 4,930 by January 2026 (Ahrefs), and Barclays found 56% of Gen Z singles now prioritize meeting in person. Loneliness is also pushing some daters toward AI: Norton’s 2026 study reported 81% of respondents feel lonely and 77% would consider dating an AI, a trend we track in our AI companion apps statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dating-app users who report burnout | 78% | Forbes Health, July 2025 |
| Women vs men reporting fatigue | 80% vs 74% | Forbes Health, July 2025 |
| Users citing lack of genuine connection | 40% | Forbes Health, July 2025 |
| Users who report being ghosted | 41% | Forbes Health, July 2025 |
| Monthly U.S. searches for matchmaker, Jan 2025 to Jan 2026 | 2,370 to 4,930 | Ahrefs via Global Dating Insights |
| Gen Z singles prioritizing in-person meetings | 56% | Barclays, February 2026 |
Context: Barclays reported 48% of Gen Z singles say AI scam concerns have already changed how they date online, nearly double the 25% national average.
7. Romance Scams and AI-Driven Fraud
This is where online dating turns dangerous, and where the numbers are climbing fastest. U.S. consumers reported 1.16 billion dollars in romance scam losses in the first nine months of 2025, up 22% year over year, on 55,604 reports (FTC, Consumer Sentinel Network 2025). The FBI’s IC3 counted 929 million dollars in confidence and romance losses for the full year, with adults 60 and older bearing 584 million dollars of that. AI is amplifying the threat: Norton blocked over 17 million dating-scam attacks in Q4 2025 alone, and McAfee documented deepfake-creation tools that cost as little as 5 dollars to set up. Because most of these scams begin off-platform, our companion pieces on social media statistics and vishing statistics cover the voice-fraud and social-engineering overlap in depth. If you are dating online, treat unverified voice or video calls with caution and move slowly on any request for money.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Romance scam losses, first 9 months of 2025 | 1.16 billion USD | FTC Consumer Sentinel, 2025 |
| Romance scam reports, first 9 months of 2025 | 55,604 (up 22%) | FTC Consumer Sentinel, 2025 |
| Median romance scam loss, Q3 2025 | 2,218 USD | FTC Consumer Sentinel, 2025 |
| FBI confidence and romance losses, FY2025 | 929 million USD | FBI IC3, 2025 Report |
| FBI romance losses, adults 60+ | 584 million USD | FBI IC3, 2025 Report |
| Dating-scam attacks blocked, Q4 2025 | 17 million+ (up 19%) | Norton, 2026 |
| Online daters targeted by a scam | 44% | Norton, 2026 |
| Average UK romance scam loss, 2025 | 7,000 GBP | Barclays, February 2026 |
Outlier note: The FBI flagged that AI-enabled tactics appeared in confidence and romance scams tied to 19 million dollars in losses, and that romance scams targeting older adults rose about 30% year over year (FBI IC3, 2025).
Summary: Online Dating by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Online dating users worldwide, 2025 | ~380 million | Statista, 2025 |
| Dating-app users worldwide, 2025 | ~360 million | Sensor Tower, 2025 |
| U.S. adults who have ever used a dating app | 39% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| Adults 18 to 29 who have ever used one | 65% | SSRS, February 2025 |
| 2025 marriages where the couple met online | 27% | The Knot, 2025 |
| Heterosexual couples who met online, 2017 | 39% | Stanford HCMST |
| Match Group total revenue, Q4 2025 | 878 million USD (up 2%) | Match Group, Q4 2025 |
| Bumble total revenue, FY2025 | 965.7 million USD (down 9.9%) | Bumble Inc, FY2025 |
| Partnered adults under 30 who met online | 20% | Pew Research Center, 2022 |
| Romance scam losses, first 9 months of 2025 | 1.16 billion USD | FTC, 2025 |
| Median romance scam loss, Q3 2025 | 2,218 USD | FTC, 2025 |
| FBI confidence and romance losses, FY2025 | 929 million USD | FBI IC3, 2025 |
| Dating-scam attacks blocked, Q4 2025 | 17 million+ (up 19%) | Norton, 2026 |
| Online daters who would consider dating an AI | 77% | Norton, 2026 |
| Dating-app users reporting burnout | 78% | Forbes Health, July 2025 |
| Gen Z singles prioritizing in-person meetings | 56% | Barclays, February 2026 |
| Hinge Voice Prompt profiles more likely to get a date | 32% | Hinge, 2026 |
| Voice note in conversation more likely to get a date | 48% | Hinge, 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered by aggregating primary reports, regulatory filings, government fraud datasets, and named survey trackers published between 2022 and 2026, prioritizing 2025 to 2026 releases and flagging older figures (Pew 2022, Stanford HCMST 2017) as the most recent available.
Sources cited:
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Spotlight (2025-2026)
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 2025 Internet Crime Report
- Pew Research Center, Key Findings About Online Dating in the U.S. (2023, 2022 survey)
- SSRS, The Public and Online Dating in 2025 (February 2025)
- Match Group, Q4 2025 and FY2025 earnings (February 2026)
- Bumble Inc, Q4 2025 and FY2025 results (February 2026), reported via Investing.com
- The Knot, 2025 Real Weddings Study
- Stanford University, How Couples Meet and Stay Together (Rosenfeld, HCMST)
- Hinge Newsroom and D.A.T.E. data (2026), reported via Hinge and Daily Dot
- Forbes Health, Dating App Fatigue Survey (July 2025)
- Barclays, AI Deepfake Concerns See Gen Z Swiping Left (February 2026)
- Norton (Gen Digital), Artificial Intimacy Insights Report (2026)
- McAfee, Romance Scams Are Now Part of the Online Dating Experience (2026)
- Appfigures / Global Dating Insights, dating app revenue analysis (2025)
- Statista, Online Dating and Dating Services Market Outlook
- Ahrefs search-volume data, reported via Global Dating Insights
Data watch: Match Group and Bumble report Q1 2026 results in May 2026; the FTC Consumer Sentinel full-year 2025 Data Book and the next FBI IC3 annual report will refresh the fraud figures; Pew Research Center is overdue for a new comprehensive online dating survey; and Norton, Barclays, and Forbes Health typically refresh their dating studies around Valentine’s Day, so expect 2027 editions in Q1.
Last updated: July 9, 2026.
We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.