Annual Dating Survey 2021:93% of Singles in Malaysia Desire Long-Term Relationship, However 63% Has Not Gone on Any Dates This Year
Out of 500 Malaysian singles surveyed, 93% of them want to be in a committed relationship (up from 76% last year), with 40% of them wanting to get married in the near future.
However, 37% of singles admit that the pandemic and safety concerns are making it difficult for them to get closer to their dates and to be in a relationship
Despite their desire to find love, 63% of singles have not gone on any physical dates and 66% of singles have not had any virtual dates this year. “This year, we are still seeing rising cases of Covid-19 and singles are experiencing many uncertainties and changes, which affects their dating lives. The survey shows that 69% of Malaysian singles are feeling nervous about dating again,” said Violet Lim, CEO and Co-Founder of Lunch Actually. “While we understand how they feel, especially after a year of safe-distancing and Covid restrictions, we want to encourage singles that they should overcome this hurdle as meeting new people on dates is the first step to finding a lifelong partner.”
Another important topic of this year’s survey is on singles’ mental health and happiness. 24% of singles surveyed said that their mental health has worsened this year, compared to previous year - with more men (25%) feeling worse compared to women (22%). Top 3 contributing factors are inability to go out freely (75%), working from home for too long (53%) and Covid fatigue of seeing frequent negative news and having to adapt to various restrictions (51%).
“As a dating agency, we feel the responsibility to create a safe platform for singles to address their worries, and seek help as they’re feeling these emotions. We need to constantly improve and have better tools to support singles throughout their dating journey, beyond just arranging the dates,” Violet said.
This is echoed by 39% of singles surveyed who say having a sense of community and knowing that there are other singles in the same journey is one way that a dating service like Lunch Actually can help them to feel better and more supported. The next highest responses include: having more social events (35%) and providing a dating coach to talk to when they need advice (15%).
Other Key Takeaways from Annual Singles Dating Survey 2021
Dating Apps Are Less Effective: 57% of singles in Malaysia surveyed feel that the pandemic has changed the type of people they meet on dating apps. Out of which, 53% feel the people they meet there are not serious and are only looking for fun, 50% of them admit to encountering more scammers, and 40% think they are only there to get attention to boost their ego.
Pressure to Get Married: 29% of Malaysian single men and 26% of single women feel more pressure from society to find a partner this year, compared to pre-Covid.
Quality Over Quantity: Due to the pandemic, singles are re-evaluating their dating mindset and are more intentional in their interactions with potential matches:
- 92% of singles say they are more focused on finding a long-term relationship now
- 72% of them have stopped casual dating
- 86% are more upfront about their intention early on in the dating process to not waste time.
What Men and Women Want: Asked about the 3 most important characteristics of their future partner, men and women have different answers. For the men, what’s most important are age (66%), body type (58%) and religion (35%). For the women, it’s income level (68%), education level (47%) and age (46%).
Dating Openness:
- Compared to 7 years ago, women are now more open to dating younger men (65% now as compared to 45% in 2013.)
- 60% of Malaysian women would not date a man with a lower income.
- 76% of women are not open to dating shorter men. This number continues to go up every year (compared to 75% in 2020 and 74% in 2019). However, 79% of men are open to dating taller women.
- 57% of men and 45% of women would not date a divorcee with kids.
Dating and Vaccinations: 76% of women and 50% of men will not date someone who is not vaccinated due to personal choice. This is the highest number amongst other singles in the rest of the countries.
Making The First Move: 50% of women say that men should make the first move, however 74% of men say that it doesn’t really matter to them.
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