63% single adults in the UK use online dating sites or dating apps

It’s official, we’re a nation of daters! New research by dating app, Happn, reveals the dating habits of the UK. The research shows online dating is taking a more prevalent role than the more traditional methods, with 63% of single adults going online to find love.

Over 2,000 people were surveyed all over the country from John O’Groats to Land’s End and were questioned about every aspect of dating.

The most regular daters were men, with 28% going on dates twice or more a week, compared to just 9% women.

However, we’re a cautious bunch.  People spend 21 days on average talking to someone online before meeting them in the flesh. Interestingly, it’s the older generation that bucked this trend. Over 55’s spent only 14 days chatting before going on a date.

The research named Saturday as the most popular night for a date. Unless you’re in London or the North East, however, as these regions prefer to date during the week (51%).

Once they’ve built up the courage and sorted the day, Brits spend around 78 minutes getting ready for a date.  Men actually spend longer than women getting ready before a date (albeit by just 3 minutes) at 79 minutes. In fact, 23% of men spend over 2 hours getting ready.

The survey also looked at how much we’re spending on a date. On average, single Brits spend £70 on a first date.  Men spend almost double the amount women do – at £92 compared to £47 among women. But when asked whether the bill should be split, it was the older generation (over 55’s) pushing equality.  Only 28% believed that men should pay the whole bill, compared to 41% of over 25’s.

The biggest spenders were in London (£119), North East (£88) and the North West (£56) . South West (£37), Wales (£39) and Yorkshire (42) spend the least.

The biggest faux-pas in the eyes of women is playing on a phone. For Men, on the other hand, over drinking is the biggest turn off. This might be why back-up plans are important to daters with 70% admitting that they have left a date early, including 60% who always have an excuse prepared to leave early.

When it comes to how far people would go on a date, again the regions use different tactics. In the East/East Anglia they are more likely to tease (41%), in London they like to use a cheesy chat-up line (11%), in the South East they’ll make you laugh (63%) and in Scotland they’ll rely on a cheeky wink (12%) or playing hard to get (12%). Single adults aged 45-54 are the naughtiest – 17% would go as far as sex.

View the full case study here to find out how we carried out this research and the coverage it generated.