25％ Of Married Under 40s Meet on Dating Apps According to Survey; Unmarried Participants Cite “Lack of Places” As Main Hurdle

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:08 JST, September 2, 2024

One in four married people under the age of 40 met their spouse through dating apps, according to a survey conducted by the Children and Families Agency.

The survey was conducted online in July among men and women aged 15-39 across Japan. When the 2,000 married participants answered how or where they met, apps were the most common way at 25.1%, followed by workplace or work-related environments at 20.5%, school at 9.9%, and so on.

The survey also had 18,000 unmarried respondents, with 62.7% saying they want to get married, including those who said they would like to if they could. The most cited obstacle was “lack of places or opportunities to meet people,” at 29.3%.

While there have been many problems reported with dating apps, the agency believes they are an important tool for increasing the marriage rate, and would like to encourage use by young people who wish to get married by improving the quality of the apps and informing users on safe usage.