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Quest for love costs singles £3.4bn
Single people looking for love spend almost £3.4 billion on dates every year, splashing cash on new clothes and expensive restaurants, according to a new study.
Some 37 million dates happen each year and singletons spend an average of £47 each on every encounter, the survey of more than 2,000 people by dating company Match found.
The quest for the perfect partner costs single people an average of £1,107 each year, with daters collectively spending more than £1.3 billion on entertainment, bars and restaurants and more than £860 million on new clothes for dates, the research found.
They also spend £421 million a year on transport and £324 million in hair salons, with the average singleton spending just over £100 every year getting their hair done especially for a date, the LoveGeist survey found.
Those looking for love also spend an average of £120 each year on cosmetics and contraceptives.
Karl Gregory, UK managing director of match.com, one of Match's dating websites, said: "This is the first time dating spend has been analysed by sector and it's impressive to see the huge knock-on benefit to the wider economy - especially at a time when every penny counts.
"Dating is a major contributor to the UK economy and the growth in popularity of online dating has played a massive role in stimulating this: we know that one in three singles have looked for a relationship online, making sites like match.com and matchaffinity.com the start of the journey for many people looking for love."
:: YouGov surveyed 2,184 single adults online between September 5 and 12 last year. Calculations were made by the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved.
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