Fifty-three percent of Internet users in Taiwan are single, giving the country's market for online dating services high potential, a Yahoo! Taiwan official said yesterday.
The figure compares with only 40 percent in 2003 and 44 percent in 2004, according to Wu Yuan-ju, head of the public relations department of the company, owner of the largest online dating site in Taiwan.
With the population of singles increasing in Taiwan, approximately 750,000 of all 1.42 million Internet users in the country are single, Wu said.
He said online dating meets the need of today's people because what he described as "their limited living scope" provides them little time or opportunity to make new friends and online dating sites can help them screen and match their date partners.
Meanwhile, surveys indicate that 33 percent of users of online dating sites clearly identify their purpose as finding a girlfriend, boyfriend or marriage partner, Wu noted.
She said Yahoo! Taiwan will hold a "National Singles Day" activity Nov. 22 for the fourth consecutive year to create an opportunity for Internet users to meet real people.
A similar activity held last year attracted 600 participants and successfully matched seven pairs of lovers, she added.
