• Barclays says Opinium research finds 48% of UK daters report rising dating costs.
  • Single daters report spending £7.10 a month on dating apps, up from £4.70 in 2025, a 51.1% rise.
  • 27% of Gen Z say they have cancelled, rearranged or declined a date over cost, against 14% overall.
  • Bumble and Match Group payer counts fell in Q2 2026 while revenue per payer rose.

Barclays says research it commissioned finds 48% of UK daters report that dating costs have climbed, and that dating app spending is up 51.1% year on year. The bank published the Opinium-run findings on 26 October, alongside the launch of Statement Dating, a social-first content series hosted by Ellie Taylor.

This is a bank's marketing survey, not independent research. Still, the app-spend number lands in a market where payer counts are under pressure.

The DII Take

Treat the 51.1% with care: it is a self-reported average among single daters, and the release does not say how many of the 2,000 respondents were daters. The likelier reading is that a shrinking pool of payers is paying more each, which fits what Bumble and Match Group reported. Cost sensitivity is now a product problem, not just a Gen Z talking point.

What Barclays and Opinium found

  • Single daters report spending an average of £7.10 a month on dating apps, up from £4.70 in 2025.
  • Men report spending £9.20 against £4.20 for women, and millennials are the top spenders at £12.20.
  • 62% of Gen Z and 57% of millennials have noticed dating costs rise.
  • Cheaper formats such as coffee meetings and running dates are favoured by 54% of Gen Z, 44% of millennials and 16% of those aged 46+.
  • 49% of respondents say technology is making dating feel impersonal and disconnected.

Seema Sachdev, Head of Customer at Barclays UK, said: 'Money is increasingly shaping how people date, who they pursue and how relationships develop.' Opinium surveyed 2,000 respondents in each round on 25-29 September 2026, a sample representative of UK consumers. The release labels some Gen Z figures as 18-29s elsewhere.

How it sits against operator filings

Bumble (BMBL) reported Q2 2026 revenue down 15.2% to $210.5M and paying users down 16.4% to 3.2 million, while ARPPU rose 1.2% to $21.96. Match Group (MTCH) reported 13.3 million payers, down 6%, with revenue per payer up 6% to $21.13. Hinge payers rose 17% to 2 million, according to the Motley Fool transcript. DII has covered that payer split.

Match Group has guided Q3 revenue to $885M to $895M, down 2% to 3%. 24/7 Wall St. reported that results are due on 2 November.

Single daters report spending an average of £7.10 a month on dating apps, up from £4.70 in 2025.

What to watch

Match Group's Q3 payer and revenue-per-payer figures will show whether higher spend per payer holds. Watch also for cheaper-date and split-bill behaviour: Barclays says 40% prefer to split the bill on a first date, rising to 48% among women.

  • Barclays-commissioned data points to higher spend per payer, matching Bumble's and Match Group's Q2 revenue-per-payer gains.
  • The survey is self-reported and company-commissioned, so use it as a signal, not a benchmark.
  • Match Group's Q3 results, reported as due on 2 November, are the next hard test.

Sources: Coffees over cocktails: half of Gen Zs opt for affordable dates, as money moves up the dating agenda (Barclays press release); Barclays Research Shows Rising Dating Costs Are Reshaping Relationships as Statement Dating Launches (EuropaWire distribution of Barclays release); Banking on love: Gen Z's financial confidence hinges on finding the 'one' (Barclays, September 2025); Bumble Inc. second quarter 2026 results (SEC 8-K Ex. 99.1); Match Group Q2 2026 shareholder letter / Q3 guidance (SEC 8-K Ex. 99.2); Match Group Q2 2026 earnings call transcript (Motley Fool)