Lonely hearts in Britain spend £3 billion looking for love

London: Single people in Britain spend more than 3 billion pounds a year in their search for a partner, a new study has found.

The survey, commissioned by dating website Match.com, investigated the cost of dating, and found that Britons collectively go on 37 million dates, spending on average 47 pounds each time. Most spend the money on entertainment. with a national spend of 1.3 billion pounds on food and drink, while around 1 billion pounds is spent on clothing and cosmetics. “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,” the Daily Mail quoted Karl Gregory, managing director of Match.com, as saying. “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,” he said. Gregory highlighted that online dating is now the third most popular way to find a partner, just behind bars and clubs and meeting through friends. The study, conducted on 2,000 single adults in Britain’s major cities, also revealed that 421 million pounds are spent on transport, while hairdressers benefit to the tune of 324 pounds. The report was produced by the Centre of Economic Business Research. “The research shows that dating provides a multi-billion pound windfall for the UK, directly benefiting a range of industries like retail, food and drink and entertainment,” a spokesperson from the Centre said. “With over 10,000 dates taking place every day, the dating economy provides some comfort to high street businesses at a time of weak consumer spending,” the spokesperson said. ANI