A combined study by dating website match.com and the Centre for Economic Business Research (CEBR) found that dating contributes about £3.6bn every year to the UK economy and that this has increased by £200m so far this year, compared with 2011.
The research, based on a survey of 1,000 single people, found that singles spend an average £103 on a date, of which around £30 is spent in restaurants and £19 in bars and pubs.
The overall spend on entertainment, restaurants and bars this year is expected to be £2.1bn - up by over 60% on last year’s £1.3bn figure.
London generates £880m of consumer spending every year. Meanwhile, the South, the Midlands and the East benefit from spending of £700m and £620m and £250m, respectively. These four regions represent about 69% of all dating-related spending in the UK.
Averaging spending on a date is just £88 in the North and £73 in Wales.
“With just over three million active daters in the UK, there is no denying that their activity has a noticeable economic impact,” CEBR economist Daniel Solomon said.
“Dating makes an essential contribution to the high street, directly helping a range of industries like retail, food and drink and entertainment.”
