Statistics

Bumble says that singles are turning to dating apps more than ever, evidenced by its recent finding that over a billion matches were made on its app in 2021, a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

The dating app also shared that over 9 billion messages were exchanged globally, up nearly 40 percent from 2020, showing that dating app usage during lockdowns wasn’t a temporary thing. Rather, once restrictions lifted, people were more eager to login to the app and start looking for matches as well as virtual date, and were also eager to use dating apps to get back out there and meet matches in real life.  

Bumble said that the highest number of message exchanges were between October and early November, just prior to the holiday season. It’s also worth noting that this was just prior to the emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid, which has led to global lockdowns and restrictions once again. Still, the company doesn’t see things slowing down as we enter into dating’s “high season,” between New Year’s and Valentine’s Day.

The dating app industry is expected to grow to over $11 billion by 2028, thanks to the increased use of smartphones and people turning to them for connection during the pandemic.

A new report by Grand View Research found that the industry is doing better than ever and will only continue to grow at a rate of 5.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2028. The increasing global reach of smartphones and internet access has helped to propel the industry forward, as well as pandemic lockdowns and the increased interest in virtual dating.

The study also found that the 18- to 25-year-old market is expected to register the second largest CAGR of 5.8 percent over the same period. Dating apps have their eyes on Gen Z daters who are looking for something more engaging than the typical routine of swiping through profiles on an app, as they have grown up with smartphones and virtual experiences. Many of the new offerings that apps like Tinder are unveiling include interactive content. Tinder and Bumble have both recently announced that they will be offering experiences in the metaverse where daters can create avatars and meet in virtual spaces to date.

Match’s latest Singles In America study found that a majority of daters are looking for maturity and stability in a relationship, a result of people feeling lonely and isolated from the pandemic and longing for deeper connection.

According to the study, only 11 percent of singles want to date casually, while 62 percent say they seek more meaningful, committed relationships. And 65 percent are eager to find a relationship within the next year, particularly younger singles – 81 percent of Gen Z daters and 76 percent of Millennials.

Match also found that 83 percent of singles said they want a partner who is emotionally mature, and 76 percent said they want a partner who is looking to get married. This is up from 58 percent just two years ago, and interestingly, younger adults and men are most interested in marriage.

Shares for Bumble Inc, which owns the popular dating apps Bumble and Badoo, fell more than twenty percent after the company’s third quarter earnings call in November. 

The dating app went public earlier this year, with shares taking off out of the gate. In recent weeks however, investors have cooled on the stock, and Bumble has pointed to pandemic lockdowns in strong markets like Japan which have cut into the company’s overall revenue. The latest dip after the earnings call was the stock’s lowest point yet. 

According to Forbes, for the first time since its IPO, Bumble posted a decline in overall user growth, with total paying users dropping to 2.87 million through September, down from 2.93 million in the second quarter.

Dating app Bumble had a rough third quarter, with total paying users down 2 percent from the second quarter. It was the first time the company saw a decline in its user base since going public in February of this year.

According to Reuters, total paying users fell to 2.9 million as the pandemic surge prompted new lockdowns in hard-hit countries. The company says the pandemic surge caused an overall drop in consumer spending on dating apps and in-app purchases. This news spooked investors and sent Bumble’s stock tumbling 9 percent, a 32 percent total decline since its IPO.

The company owns popular dating app Badoo which was hit especially hard due to its popularity in markets affected by the Covid surges. Badoo accounts for about a quarter of the company’s total revenue according to Barron’s.

Dating app conglomerate Match Group has lowered their expected earnings for Q4, according to an earnings call with investors. The company said the adjusted forecast resulted from decreased revenue in Asian markets due to the pandemic. Shares declined 6 percent with the news.

According to Reuters, Match Group adjusted fourth quarter earnings revenue between $810 and $820 million, below analysts’ forecast of $838.5 million per Refinitiv. The company expects revenue for 2021 to be around $3 billion.

In the third quarter, revenue rose 25 percent, but still missed expectations. Match Group added 16.3 million paid users and revenue per person rose 8 percent. Their quarterly earnings came out to $.53 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $.60 per share, and has dropped from earnings of $.55 per share a year ago.