The State of Online Dating 2026
Online Dating & Dating App Statistics Australia vs. the World 2026
How many singles search online, what are they looking for, and how do countries compare? This page turns every answer from our dating recommendation quiz into live, quotable statistics — updated monthly.
Updated September 2026 · N = 50,350 · collected across 18 country editions
What are singles looking for?
Relationship goals of respondents in this country. Filter by gender and age — the differences are bigger than you might think.
View as table
| Answer | % | N |
|---|---|---|
| ❤️ Long-term relationships | 34.4% | 1 |
| 🔥 Casual relationships | 27.9% | 2 |
| 💋 Flirting and fun dates | 9.5% | 3 |
| 👀 Exploring my options | 16% | 4 |
| 🔄 Swinging & Open Relationships | 5.8% | 5 |
| 🖤 BDSM & Fetish dating | 2.9% | 6 |
| 💎 Sugar Dating | 3.4% | 7 |
| 💞 Polyamorous relationships | 0.2% | 8 |
Who is dating online?
Gender and age of everyone who took the quiz.
By generation
| Gen Z | 15.2% | 1 |
| Millennials | 34.4% | 2 |
| Gen X | 34.8% | 3 |
| Baby Boomers | 15.6% | 4 |
Relationship status
Not everyone searching is single.
Beyond mainstream dating
Sugar dating, swinging & open relationships, BDSM & fetish, polyamory — the share of respondents naming each as their goal.
Country vs. country
The same questions, asked in every country edition — compare any two markets, or sort the full table.
| Country | N | Long-term | Casual | Women | Avg. age | Not single |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 19,668 | 39.2% | 20.8% | 30.8% | 39.7 | 21.8% |
| Germany | 9,925 | 44.5% | 23.8% | 24.2% | 46.1 | 31% |
| United Kingdom | 6,645 | 39.8% | 22.8% | 27.8% | 44.6 | 25.8% |
| Spain | 3,840 | 36.9% | 38.6% | 19.5% | 42.6 | 23% |
| Austria | 2,141 | 46.8% | 24.3% | 25% | 45.5 | 28.6% |
| Switzerland | 1,601 | 46% | 24.3% | 26.3% | 46.8 | 33.8% |
| Australia | 1,574 | 34.4% | 27.9% | 22.5% | 45.7 | 27.7% |
| New Zealand | 1,034 | 42.1% | 18.5% | 31.5% | 44.5 | 22.9% |
| Italy | 612 | 33.3% | 31.4% | 23.5% | 46.9 | 37.6% |
| Singapore | 606 | 31% | 23.4% | 26.3% | 35.9 | 30.3% |
| Sweden | 535 | 59.7% | 14.8% | 42.3% | 49 | 18% |
| Hong Kong SAR China | 498 | 35.5% | 20.5% | 24.5% | 37.5 | 25% |
| Netherlands | 381 | 36.5% | 18.8% | 20.8% | 47.7 | 28.8% |
| Denmark | 374 | 63.8% | 20% | 40.9% | 49.7 | 18.9% |
| Hungary | 321 | 71.4% | 16.6% | 47.4% | 46.3 | 16.7% |
| Finland | 235 | 51.8% | 22.8% | 24.3% | 47.3 | 18.6% |
| Brazil | 142 | 53.2% | 24.3% | 46.5% | 43.5 | 17.8% |
| France | 136 | 46.8% | 34.2% | 30.1% | 40.8 | 14.7% |
What they want in a partner
The traits respondents picked most (multiple answers allowed, all countries).
Who the respondents are
Education, work, income and ethnicity across all countries.
View as table
| 📜 College Graduate/Bachelor’s Degree | 25.9% | 1 |
| 🎓 Postgraduate (Master’s or PhD) | 18.9% | 2 |
| 🚌 High School Graduate | 17.6% | 3 |
| 📘 Some College | 14.5% | 4 |
| 🔧 Vocational/Technical Training | 14.5% | 5 |
| ❓ Other | 8.6% | 6 |
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| 💼 Full-time Employee | 54.8% | 1 |
| 🕒 Part-time Employee | 12.8% | 2 |
| 🔍 Unemployed | 11.4% | 3 |
| 📱 Freelancer | 10.3% | 4 |
| 💡 Entrepreneur | 8.9% | 5 |
| 🚀 Startup Founder | 1.7% | 6 |
| 👤 Single | 0% | 7 |
| 🤷 It’s Complicated | 0% | 8 |
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| 💸 Less than $25k/year | 23.2% | 1 |
| 💵 $25k–$50k/year | 24.8% | 2 |
| 💰 $50k–$100k/year | 27.2% | 3 |
| 💼 $100k–$200k/year | 15.1% | 4 |
| 🏦 $200k–$500k/year | 4.9% | 5 |
| 💎 $500k–$1M/year | 1.8% | 6 |
| 👑 More than $1M/year | 3% | 7 |
View as table
| 🖐🏻 White | 78.6% | 1 |
| 🖐🏼 Asian | 5.6% | 2 |
| 🖐 Mixed/Other | 5.3% | 3 |
| 🖐🏿 Black | 3.4% | 4 |
| 🖐🏽 Latin | 3.3% | 5 |
| 🖐🏾 Indian | 2.7% | 6 |
| 🖐🏽 Arabic | 1.1% | 7 |
| 🚶♀️ Slim build | 0% | 8 |
Dating app statistics: how singles use dating sites & apps
Time budgets, preferred ways to connect and what singles expect from a dating app or site (all countries).
View as table
| ⌛ I can spend a few hours a week | 48.5% | 1 |
| 🕰️ I have plenty of time to dedicate | 36% | 2 |
| ⏳ I have limited time | 15.5% | 3 |
| 🖐🏻 White | 0% | 4 |
View as table
| 💬 Text messages | 40.5% | 1 |
| ✨ Doesn’t matter | 31.9% | 2 |
| 🤝 In-person meetups | 19.7% | 3 |
| 🎥 Video calls | 5.9% | 4 |
| 📞 Voice calls | 2.1% | 5 |
View as table
| 📺 Free with ads | 46.5% | 1 |
| 💰 Affordable options | 34.5% | 2 |
| 💎 Premium features | 19% | 3 |
| 🤝 Members who are serious and respectful | 0% | 4 |
Responses over time
Completed quiz sessions per month since the survey started.
Methodology
Datingscout AU (2026). The State of Online Dating 2026: Online Dating & Dating App Statistics Australia vs. the World 2026. Retrieved from https://www.datingscout.com.au/online-dating-statistics