Global dating app installs increased by 13% in H1 2021

As one of the fastest growing app categories on mobile, dating continues to perform well in 2021. According to recent data from Adjust, global dating app downloads increased by 13% in the first half of 2021 compared to the last quarter of 2020.

Sessions per user, session lengths, and retention rates of dating apps are also high so far in 2021. 

The average user had 3.81 sessions on day 1, 3.58 on day 7, 3.46 on week two, and 3.45 on day 30 in Q2 2021. Session lengths, meanwhile, sit at 13.26 minutes per user, per day. Interestingly, Android users log longer sessions lengths than those on iOS, coming in at 13.69 minutes per day vs. 12.76.

When it comes to retention rates, compared to the industry average in Q2 of 2021, dating apps perform significantly higher throughout an entire 30-day user journey. The industry day 1 average currently sits at 26%, while dating apps reach 32%. Similarly, by days 3 and 7 dating apps are still as high as 23% and 18%, where the industry average is 17% and 13% respectively.

Adjust data also shows that the best day of the week for sessions is Sunday. By contrast, the slowest days of the week are consistently Friday and Saturday.

When we take a look at last year’s data, we see that dating apps maintain their growth momentum. Dating app downloads reached 560 million worldwide in 2020. Consumers spent more than $ 3 billion on dating apps last year, up 15% annually worldwide.

Especially Gen Z does not use dating apps only for dating. Aware of this, major dating apps have included different features over time, such as Bumble’s BFF. 

In May, The White House COVID-19 response team announced that they’ve teamed up with popular dating apps including Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, Chispa, BLK, Plenty of Fish and Badoo to encourage vaccination. 

Adjust’s data also highlights that dating apps that want to be successful moving forward need to go social.