Sugar dating and online dating in numbers

Real figures from research and official sources. Every number on this page has a named source.

Have tried online dating

30%

Of US adults · Pew Research Center, 2023

Couples who met online

39%

Of couples formed in 2017 · Stanford/PNAS, 2019

Dating app users worldwide

350m+

Business of Apps, 2026

Met their partner online

1 in 5

Partnered US adults under 30 · Pew Research Center, 2023

Who uses online dating?

18-29 years53%
30-49 years37%
50-64 years20%
65+ years13%

Share who have ever used a dating site or app, by age group (US). Source: Pew Research Center, 2023.

What the research says about sugar dating

7 types

Distinct forms of sugar relationships - only one of which can be described as prostitution

Scull, Sociological Perspectives, 2019

40%

Of the sugar babies interviewed had never had sex with their benefactor

Scull, University of Colorado Denver, 2019

85%

Of Swedish sugar babies also named non-financial motivations

Gunnarsson & Strid, Social Problems, 2023

69,924

Participants across 87 countries in the largest study of attitudes to sugar relationships to date

Meskó et al., Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2023

Key findings about online dating and sugar dating

  • Online is now the most common way couples meet. Around 2013 the internet overtook friends as the top meeting place, and about 39% of heterosexual couples who formed in 2017 met online (Stanford/PNAS, 2019).
  • One in ten partnered US adults met their partner online - one in five among those under 30 (Pew Research Center, 2023).
  • More than 350 million people use dating apps worldwide, and the market generated over 6 billion dollars in 2025 (Business of Apps, 2026).
  • Sugar dating is fully legal - and the research draws a clear line: of Scull's seven types of sugar relationships, only one can be described as prostitution.

Frequently asked questions about the statistics

How many people use sugar dating?

There is no official count of sugar dating on its own, and Sugarfar does not publish member numbers. But online dating as a whole is huge: more than 350 million people use dating apps worldwide (Business of Apps, 2026), and sugar relationship research now includes studies with almost 70,000 participants across 87 countries (Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2023).

What do we know about age differences in couples?

Official statistics show age gaps are common: in Norway the man is on average 3.5 years older at marriage (Statistics Norway), and in France the average gap is 2.5 years (INSEE). In sugar dating the gap is typically larger, and the research shows the relationships span a wide range, from friendships to lasting partnerships (Scull, 2019).

Who uses online dating the most?

Younger adults: 53% of Americans under 30 have tried a dating app against 13% of those over 65 (Pew Research Center, 2023). Across the EU, more than one in five adults lives alone (Eurostat, 2025) - the singles market online dating serves.

Become part of the statistics

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Sources

Every figure on this page comes from a named external source. Sugarfar does not publish its own member numbers. Last updated: August 2026.