- Time Out survey reveals the ins and outs of dating, love and lust in cities around the world
- Chicago is the top romantic destination in the US
- Only a quarter of Londoners think it is easy to find love in their city
- Manchester is the best city in the world to find love
- The survey found the officially approved number of dates to wait before having sex is 2.7
Maybe it was his accent that helped Harry win over Meghan, as a new survey by Time Out reveals that the English have the world’s sexiest accent.
Timeout.com, the global brand that inspires people to make the most of the city, questioned 15,000 residents across 32 cities worldwide, giving a glimpse behind closed doors.
The Time Out survey also found how the world dates right now, revealing secrets for some of the most loved-up cities. Manchester came out as the best city in the world to find love, and also the easiest city in the UK to get lucky; 84% think it is a breeze and the result is, they have the most sex in the UK (28.3 times a year, compared to 24.6 times in London.)
In comparison to loved-up Manchester just 26% of Londoners think it is easy to find love (compared to 53% in Manchester). But they really try hard, with 42% revealing they have had a workplace romance, 34% dating several people at once and 2.4 being the average number of dates a Londoner will wait before getting down to business (compared to a global average of 2.7).
Chicago came out as the top romantic destination of the nine US cities surveyed, according to its residents. The city tops the poll as the best city in the US to find love, go on the most dates and hook up after the fewest dates (2.5) - they also have the most people in relationships.
The hardest place to find love in the US is Miami, where just 9% think it is easy, but they come in third when it comes to getting busy, with 83% saying it’s a piece of cake.
People in San Francisco are most likely to have had a threesome (28%), Chicagoans are most likely to have had a one night stand (65%), three quarters of Washington DC residents have cheated on a partner, San Francisco are happiest to date several people at once (51%), and 46% of Austin residents have had a workplace romance.
And here’s what puts other cities around the world on the love map
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Tokyo: the city going on the most dates
Although people in Tokyo think it is particularly tough to find love (just 17% think it is easy: the third lowest figure of all cities), Tokyoites are going on the most dates - on average 25 a year, or one date every fortnight. They are also the third most likely to have had a workplace romance: 43%, compared to 46% in Austin and 55% in Moscow.
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Tel Aviv: most likely to get lucky on the first date
People in Tel Aviv are most likely to have sex on a first date (61%), followed by Melbourne (59%) and Sydney (55%). The bad news is: Tel Aviv also happens to be the city where people are most likely to bump into someone they know in the street. The officially approved number of dates to wait before having sex is 2.7, according to the 15,000 city-dwellers surveyed by Time Out in cities around the world.
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Zurich: the city where a third of residents have had a threesome
Three’s the magic number in Zurich, as a third of residents say they’ve had a threesome: more people there than in any other city are open to sex with more than one person.
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Berlin: the city for old fashioned romance
Berliners think it is easy to find love in their city, but they are rather traditional when it comes to dating. They are least likely to look a love interest up on social media, aren’t really into dating apps, don’t generally date several people at once or ghost people and are unlikely to send naughty pictures of themselves to others.
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Porto: the city of mystery
In Tel Aviv, Washington DC, Istanbul and New York, expect your date to have done their homework: three quarters of daters have looked up a potential date on social media before meeting for the first time. In Porto, that number is just 35%, making it the best city for all those who want to keep a bit of mystery in their romantic endeavours.
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Manchester: the easiest city to find a match
Those looking for love should head to Manchester, the city where residents think it is easiest to find love, followed by Porto, Chicago, Madrid and Berlin. Maybe they have some tips for Dubai, where half of respondents said that it is really difficult or virtually impossible to find love.
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Paris: city of love, or city of lovemaking?
Confident Parisians not only think hooking up in their city is easy (86%), they are also having the most sex (once every 11 days on average). And if that wasn’t enough, 53% are down with sex on the first date.
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Mexico City: the sauciest city surveyed
Mexico City is a hotspot for those who are up for an affair, with two in five admitting to having cheated on a partner, followed by 39% in Tokyo and 35% in Madrid and Paris. Mexico City residents were also the most likely to date several people at once: 54% said they had done so.
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Paris and Moscow: where PDAs are A-OK
A quarter of Moscow residents and one in five Parisians aren’t bothered by people making out on public transport, so head to these cities if you are looking for a hands-on city break. However, you are best to stay away from Mexico City - it may be the sauciest city but a whopping 85% can’t stand this behaviour in public.
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Washington DC: the city taking love into their own hands
15% of the global survey respondents had used a dating app in the past week, with the east coast of the US swiping the most (Washington DC 25%, Boston 23% and New York 21%). If you want real interactions, head to Istanbul or Porto, where only 7% in each city reach for their phone to find the one. Washington DC is also where you will find the world’s most singletons playing the dating game, whereas Istanbul, Barcelona and Madrid have the most singletons planning on staying that way.
James Manning, City Life Editor of Time Out, commented: “Our survey gives us an entertaining inside look at how city-dwellers around the world are living and loving in 2018. Time Out has been inspiring and enabling people to make the most of the city since 1968, and if we can help shed a bit of light on the quest for romance along the way, so much the better. The Time Out City Life Index shows that no one knows cities like we do – whether or not you find the English accent irresistible or where it’s easy to find a love match.”
What’s the sexiest accent in the world?
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English (17%)
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French (13%)
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Italian (11%)
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Irish (9%)
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Spanish (7%)
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Scottish (6%)
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Australian (5%)
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American (4%)
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Brazilian (3%)
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Japanese (2%)
Read more results from the global Time Out City Life Index here www.timeout.com/citylifeindex