Statistics

According to IBISWorld the online dating industry in Australia experienced a 5 percent growth in 2009. This year they predict that growth may reach 10 percent with earnings of almost $100 million AUD from advertising and subscriptions.

So how many people use dating sites in Australia? RSVP, the leading Australian dating site, surveyed more than 3000 people. They found that 50 percent had used online dating before with 10 percent of those surveyed (300 people) finding a partner on the internet. The number of active online dating accounts in Australia is also expected to increase from 1.5 million to almost 2 million by 2020.

For more on the story, read The Times of India. To find out more about Australia's leading dating site, read our RSVP review.

Skout, a mobile phone dating service, recently did a survey of 1000 of its users. The survey participants had an even number of men and women in their 20s. Here are some of the results of the survey:

• 51% have met another single in the real world that they first contacted on their phone.
• 69% of all surveyed are comfortable in meeting up with someone they met online.
• 40% use the Skout service while out at restaurants, bars and clubs.
• 35% have used Skout at work.
• During the holidays 29% would prioritize spending time with their family while 71% would prefer going out on at least one date or hook-up.

It also looks like 20 percent of those surveyed on Skout have a significant other, with half knowing about their partners activities on these social dating sites. I don't know if this is a good statistic to advertise since it means one fifth of all Skout members are cheaters.

For more on the story, read The Washington Post. You can also find other dating sites which offer a mobile phone service here.

Zoosk let us know a few holiday trends that they experience on their Facebook Dating Application last year. The busiest week for online dating activity was the week before Christmas. The second was the first week of January. Christmas Eve was the busiest day of the year for Zoosk. Throughout the year, on average Mondays are the most popular day to visit a dating site.

In a recent online survey conducted by Zoosk, 63 percent of Zoosk members are looking for long-term relationship. 33 percent of respondents are just looking for a holiday party date and 4 percent will not date this holiday as they find it too stressful. 19 percent of men from this survey also stated that they would invite a women on a first date to their office holiday party, while with women, only 10 percent said they would do this. In total, 39 percent of singles would prefer at least 3 dates before considering taking someone to their office party.

For more on this subject, read the Zoosk press release. To find out more about Facebook dating, check out our review of Zoosk.

I don't know to much about Mamba.ru but, it is reported to be Russia's most visited dating site. Mamba announced recently that their membership now exceeds 11 million profiles and that on average, there are usually 100,000 active users online at any one time. This dating site is most active at the end of the work day, with the early morning being its least active period (25,000 or so active users from 4am to 6am).

Every couple of months People Media release the results of a dating survey they have done (see Story). Their latest DatingData Poll is about the recession and if it has impacted people's attitudes towards dating.

Over 27,000 singles responded to the People Media poll across their selection of dating sites (BlackPeopleMeet.com. SeniorPeopleMeet.com, BBPeopleMeet.com, etc..) and 51 percent indicated that the current recession has not impacted their attitude about dating.

24 percent of the American singles who took the poll said that they would not date anyone who was unemployed. When you take gender into consideration for this answer, only 11 percent of men stated this fact while 37 percent of women did.

A further 17 percent of singles said that they are less motivated to date in the suffering economy and 6 percent viewed dating as networking to find a job.

Finally, only 2 percent of American singles are more motivated to date in the current economic conditions.

While not directly related to the poll, the press release also mentions that since the start of the year (2009), and according to ComScore, the number of unique visitors to People Media dating sites has grown by 15%.

To find out more information on some of People Media's dating sites, check out our BlackPeopleMeet review, our SeniorPeopleMeet review and our BBPeopleMeet review.

Edward Butler, a senior analyst at IBISWorld, used Australian Bureau of Statistics data and industry surveys to review and crunch data on the global sex services industry. He determined that the $1.2 billion industry has seen a 6 percent ($74 million) decline since the global financial crisis started. Brothels, tobacco and alcohol are usually recession proof but that doesn't appear to be the case this time.

Some analysis like Butler think that the popularity of adult dating sites have taken business from the sex industry. Adult dating sites make it easier for consenting adults to be frank about what they want and need in terms of sex. It has never been cheaper for like-minded individuals to organise casual liaisons with the rise of adult and casual dating services.

About 1.5 million men and women now have accounts in Australia with sites such popular dating sites as RSVP, Match.com and eHarmony. Most of these singles are not looking for casual sex and are intent on finding a partner for a long term relationship. Adult FriendFinder, one of the more popular casual sex dating sites reports on having just over 892 thousand profile listings from Australia.

For more on the story, read The Sydney Morning Herald.