Singapore, where the fertility rate has fallen to a record low, has launched a government-run dating platform. Rather than simply creating opportunities to meet, the service uses a Nobel Prize-winning economic theory to match users with suitable partners.
The government recently rolled out a dating platform called FirstDate, according to the Financial Times and the BBC on the 30th of last month. The platform, now in a pilot phase, is open to public-sector employees aged 21 to 35.
FirstDate's defining feature is its use of the Gale-Shapley algorithm for matching. The algorithm draws on research by U.S. economist Lloyd Shapley and others, work that won the 2012 Nobel Prize in economics. It pairs members of two separate groups efficiently based on each side's preferences.
The algorithm is already used in fields such as assigning students to public schools and matching medical residents to hospitals.
FirstDate also sets itself apart from existing dating apps. Instead of letting users scroll through large numbers of profiles at once, it introduces one potential date per matching cycle.
Users answer a survey about their interests, lifestyle habits and values. The platform then recommends a suitable match based on those answers. It also draws on the national digital identity verification system so users can confirm the other person's identity.
On its website, the platform underscored the contrast with conventional dating apps, asking whether having more potential matches necessarily makes it easier to find the right one.
Behind the government's decision to offer a platform supporting dating and introductions lies a steep decline in births.
Singapore's total fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.87 last year, down from 0.97 in 2024 in less than a year. That puts it close to the total fertility rate in South Korea, the lowest in the world.
Singapore is also expanding financial support to encourage childbirth. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced last month a plan to provide parents more than 55,000 Singapore dollars (about 74.8 million won) per child until the child turns 17.
Population aging is advancing quickly as well. Singapore is expected to become a super-aged society this year, and by 2030 one in four citizens is projected to be 65 or older.
The growing use of dating platforms across Asia is also drawing attention. The Financial Times reported that female users are increasing in Asia as social stigma around dating apps fades, while fatigue with existing dating apps is spreading in North America and Europe.
The newspaper described FirstDate as the Singapore government's latest "social engineering experiment" aimed at tackling its rapidly falling fertility rate.
