Dating App Spend in Southeast Asia Rises by 260%

Amy Hetherington 2nd March 20202nd March 2020

Singles in Southeast Asia spent more on dating apps in 2019, as market affluence and the popularity of smartphones continued to grow in the region.

Research by data analytics company App Annie has revealed that in some of the countries daters spent 260% more on dating apps in 2019 than they did two years previous.

Kabeer Chaudhary, the managing partner for Asia-Pacific at digital media agency M&C Saatchi Performance, explained to Nikkei Asian Review: “Spend[ing] on online dating services in any market is directly dependent on two main factors — market affluence and the absolute size of the smartphone audience.

“While Singapore has a much more affluent audience than Indonesia and Malaysia, its growth in smartphone audiences is limited.”

The data showed that Thai daters spent $648 million, Singaporeans $466 million and Indonesians $386 million. Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam followed with $379 million, $225 million and $208 million respectively.

This massive increase has encouraged dating app companies to expand their business in the region. Match Group has said it is focusing on business in Asia and opened offices in Japan and Indonesia last year.

Furthermore, Bumble joined up with the Singapore Tourism Board to help professionals network and make contacts.

Tinder was the most popular dating app but other companies are beginning to attract more daters. Coffee Meets Bagel and China’s Tantan ranked among the top 10 dating apps.

Cindy Deng, App Annie managing director for the Asia Pacific, told Nikkei Asian Review: “The triple-digit growth in Malaysia and Indonesia illustrates that there is a strong demand for such services in the region. The size of the population, access to smartphones and the pace of mobile internet will continue to play a key role in the growth of these apps.”

Globally, Annie App’s research showed that consumers spent over $2.2 billion on dating apps last year, double the amount spent in 2017.

In July last year, Tinder launched its first marketing campaign in Southeast Asia and Match Group announced that it hoped the region would be responsible for 25% of total revenue by 2023.