Which Prefectures Are Enthusiastic About Dating and Marriage Activities?

Amidst the progressing low birthrate and aging population, it has become clear that many young people around 20 years old are not proactive in dating and marriage activities. In a "Survey on the Reality of Dating and Marriage Activities" conducted nationwide targeting 5,000 men and women aged 18 to 24, 15.7% responded that they "are actively looking for a partner or engaging in marriage activities." 26.0% said they "want a partner but are not actively looking" (Figure 1).

The total of these, 41.7%, resulted in people wanting to find a romantic partner or spouse (referred to as "desire rate" in this release).

Of course, among those who answered "not looking for a romantic partner or spouse," some already have a crush, so it doesn't mean 58.3% don't need a partner. Among those who want a romantic partner or spouse, the proportion who are actually taking action remains at 37.6% (15.7 ÷ 41.7) (hereinafter referred to as "action rate"). This means that among young people around 20 years old who desire a romantic partner or spouse, over 60% are not taking concrete steps to find one.

Given this situation, it is believed that creating an environment and means that make it easier to take action could be one approach to the challenge of the declining birthrate.

URL: https://news.tiiki.jp/articles/4988

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Is the desire rate for dating higher in the west and lower in the east?

The proportion of people who want to find a romantic partner or spouse (desire rate) was compared by prefecture (Table 2). Yamaguchi Prefecture had the highest desire rate at 66.7%, followed by Fukui Prefecture at 58.3%, and Nara Prefecture at 57.6%.

From the Tohoku region, only Iwate Prefecture ranked in the top 10, with no prefectures from Hokkaido or Kanto in the upper ranks. On the other hand, two prefectures from Kyushu, three from Chugoku-Shikoku, and two from Kinki were included. This indicates a "higher in the west, lower in the east" trend in the desire rate.

Next, when comparing the proportion of people who want to find a romantic partner or spouse and are actively taking action (action rate, Table 3), Ehime Prefecture was the highest at 66.7%, followed by Kagoshima Prefecture at 64.7%, and Yamaguchi Prefecture at 57.1%. Here, Aomori Prefecture ranked 5th and Miyagi Prefecture ranked 8th, with two prefectures from the Tohoku region in the top 10.

Notably, only Yamaguchi Prefecture and Yamanashi Prefecture were in the top 10 for both desire rate and action rate.

Many seek serious relationships.

When people who want a romantic partner or spouse (2,015 people) were asked what they look for in a partner, nearly half of women (48.8%) responded, "I want a serious relationship." In contrast, only 32.5% of men gave this answer, showing a significant gender difference.

The next most common response was "shared hobbies and opinions," with 32.0% for women and 27.0% for men. Responses like "I want a kind person" and "I want to choose a serious lover" were also higher among women.

On the other hand, "I want to meet many people" was higher among men at 14.2% compared to 8.0% for women. The tendency to seek a partner for shared activities, such as "I want to travel abroad" or "I want to watch sports," was also higher among men.

73.3% of those seeking partners or marriage use matching apps.

Regarding matching apps, which have become popular means for dating and marriage activities, their usage status was surveyed. Among those actively seeking a partner or marriage (756 people), 73.3% use matching apps, with reasons including "to find potential partners" (41.8%), "as part of marriage activities" (22.0%), and "to make friends" (9.4%) (Figure 5). This is an increase of about 11 percentage points from the previous survey (conducted in February 2024), indicating that matching apps are becoming increasingly prevalent as a means for young people to find partners or engage in marriage activities.

Tapple is the most used app for both men and women.

Among the 756 people actively seeking partners or marriage, the usage status of 10 major matching apps was surveyed, divided into three stages: ① messaging (using the app and communicating with a specific person), ② partner searching (using the app but not yet messaging a specific person), and ③ past usage (not currently using but used previously).

The total of "messaging" and "partner searching" was defined as "current usage rate."

As a result, Tapple had the highest current usage rate at 35.0% (18.1% + 16.9%). This was followed by Pairs at 25.3%, Tinder at 24.9%, and with at 22.7%.

By gender, Tapple also had the highest messaging rate for both men (22%).