Dating: The Maths

I don't know about you, but I hated maths when I was at school. However, since I hit the online dating scene, statistics have started to have a bit more appeal. Exactly how many people do find success on the internet? Do the personals actually work? Or am I better off taking my chances and making sure I dress sexily for my commute on the 91 bus? These facts and figures might clear some stuff up...

There are approximately 15 million single people in the UK - all the more reason to join one of the many dating services out there!

Of these, half are reckoned to be looking for some long term dating or relationship.

75% of them have been single for more than 18 months.

The average number of dates that these dating lovelies will have is a mere 4.

A quarter of people don't brush their teeth before a first date.

43% of daters check their date out on Google before they meet them. Ah, the benefits of the internet to dating.

South London's Lambeth has the highest proportion of singles in the UK.

Glasgow is the place to be if you're a single gal - it's got the greatest deficit of women.

4.7 million singles have visited an online dating site in the last year.

1 in three internet dating users have admitted that they lied on their profile. That's 'admitted' - chances are it's a hell of a lot more...

This is interesting - 1 in 5 married couples aged between 19 and 25 met their partner on an internet dating site.

British men are the least confident in Europe, with half of them saying that low confidence levels detrimentally affects their love lives. Poor chaps.

88% of women don't mind if their man's a baldy.

The minefield of the follow-up text... apparently 3% of people who are keen for something serious will send a text straightaway after the first dating encounter.

They always advise against love in the workplace... but one in five end up marrying a colleague...

That said, half of all the romances sparked off over the boardroom table are over within three months.

And the death-knell: 30% of relationships are finished the brave way: face to face...Well done us.