The online matchmaking/dating app market is yet another sector that has flourished in the internet age. It has emerged as a multi-billion industry in the new century and is currently growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6%. According to the numbers presented by SafeBettingSites.com, matchmaking/dating apps are set to bring in annual revenue worth $7.6bn by 2027.
The online matching/dating market has seen healthy growth in the past four-five years, especially the online dating segment. According to Statista, in 2017, the overall annual revenue of the market stood at $4.7bn. In 2021, the yearly revenue increased to $7.5 billion, indicating an increase of 60% over four years. The online dating segment drove the majority of this growth. The online dating segment was worth $1.5bn in 2017 and increased to $ 2.8bn in 2021. Most of this 87% growth in this segment came in 2020 and 2021, probably due to the pandemic.
The matchmaking app segment grew from $2.6 billion in 2017 to $3.8bn in 2021 – a growth of 46%, which is comparatively smaller than the online dating market.
However, after a period of sustained growth, the ongoing year doesn’t seem to bring good news for the dating/matchmaking app market. According to the estimates, the annual revenue will amount to $7.6bn in 2022 – a mere growth of 1.3%.
Compared to the 2017-2021 period, the growth in the market is expected to slow down in the coming years. The market is expected to be worth $8.7bn in 2027. Both online dating and matchmaking segments are expected to grow at a slow and steady rate, whereas there is hardly any growth predicted for the casual dating segment.
East-West divide
The most striking observation of the regional distribution of the revenue is that matchmaking apps do well in conservative Asian societies of China, India, and Japan, while dating apps do well in the United States and Europe.
The US is the essential dating/matchmaking app market. In 2021, the US market accounted for 32% of the global revenue. Additionally, 54% of the US revenue came from dating apps.
During the same year, the Chinese market was worth $1.5 billion, and matchmaking apps accounted for 80% of the Chinese revenue.
