KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 – Malaysia is home to 42,500 sugar daddies earning it the third spot for the highest number of sugar daddies in Asia behind Indonesia with 60,250.

India, however, dominates the top ten Asian list with a whopping 338,000 (or 61 per cent of the total 556,000) sugar daddies in the region, according to a survey by the world’s largest sugar dating site, SeekingArrangement.

The dating firm said in a statement that countries with high-tertiary education penetration rates were proven to be more vulnerable to this trend.

It said Malaysia recorded an outstanding debt of RM39 billion in student loans as of 2018.

According to their report, similar results were seen in South Korea and Japan, which recorded 90 per cent and 76 per cent demand in tertiary education respectively.

SeekingArrangement CEO Brandon Wade said the gap between Asia’s wealthy and poor has swelled alarmingly in the last two decades, stimulating more women to seek older men for various factors.

"A platform like SeekingArrangement helps connect young and empowered women with wealthier, more affluent men who not only bolster their financial woes but act as a mentor or gateway in catapulting a promising future for these sugar babies,” he said in a statement.

Wade also noted that Asian economies that are rapidly growing are also attracting many foreign investors to set up businesses in the region.

"Thus, it is really no shocker why Asia seems to be a hotbed for sugar dating, especially among the urban demographics.”

After Malaysia, Japan (32,500) comes in at fourth and Hong Kong (28,600) at fifth with Taiwan (27,300), Vietnam (12,000), South Korea (7,000), Sri Lanka (5,000) and Cambodia (3,500) completing the list.