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It appears Singaporeans might have some issues forming lasting romantic relationships -- or even starting on forming any.

The National Population and Talent Division survey findings released on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, highlighted that "many single respondents have not dated before".

The Marriage and Parenthood survey was conducted from February to June 2021, with respondents comprising 2,848 single and 3,017 married Singapore residents, aged 21 to 45 years old.

Singles are defined as those who have never married before.

A lot of singles have never dated before

Among the respondents who were single, 50 per cent were not currently dating -- and within this group, 38 per cent had never dated before.

Reasons for not dating

Among those not currently dating, reasons cited were

- having a limited social circle (58 per cent),

- not having many opportunities to meet potential partners (57 per cent),

- their preference to leave dating to chance (48 per cent),

- wanting to concentrate on job or studies (37 per cent), and

- finding it difficult to form romantic relationships (36 per cent).

More meeting partners online

Among single respondents who are currently dating, more of them met their partners via online channels these days, while the influence of friends in making people couples is waning.

Face-to-face interactions on casual, recreational basis the best

Asked about their preference of how they want to meet someone who is potentially partner material, singles clearly favoured in-person, face-to-face interactions as the ideal starting point.

Meeting via social activities, getting introduced by a friend or colleague, and through religious activities or organisations are highly preferred.

Establishing a connection via online means ranked lower than these offline means.

Getting acquainted via relatives was least favoured though.

The breakdown of demographic of survey respondents can be found below:

Top photos via Unsplash