It’s often considered a taboo subject, but a new study is finally revealing the sex lives of Brits.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia surveyed more than 5,000 Britons to find out what the average sex life of men and women is like.
And there’s good news if you haven’t had much action: you’re not alone.
The results reveal that the majority of Britons have had no or one sexual partner in the previous three weeks.
Dr Julii Brainard, who led the study from the University of East Anglia, said: “People often assume that everyone else is having a lot of sex, but surveys like this show the real story is much more complicated.”
Between the sheets: Often considered a taboo subject, a new study is finally revealing the sex lives of Brits. This graph illustrates the percentage of people who have recently had sex.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia surveyed more than 5,000 Britons to figure out what the average sex life of men and women is like (file image)
| Age | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 18-24 | 58% | 68% |
| 25-29 | 61% | 77% |
| 30-34 | 73% | 75% |
| 35-39 | 59% | 63% |
| 40-44 | 63% | 64% |
| 45-49 | 55% | 69% |
| 50-54 | 52% | 53% |
| 55-59 | 53% | 47% |
| 60-64 | 46% | 33% |
| 65-69 | 49% | 32% |
| 70-74 | fifty% | 23% |
| 75+ | 49% | twenty-one% |
| The percentages are how many have had sex in the last three weeks. | ||
In the study, researchers surveyed more than 5,000 people in Britain last year and asked them if they had had sex in the previous three weeks.
Only 31 percent of heterosexual women ages 45 to 49 said they had not had a sexual partner in the past three weeks.
But that figure jumped to 47 percent of women ages 50 to 54.
Among women in their early sixties, two-thirds had been without sex for at least three weeks.
The figures will include women who do not have regular sexual relations with their husband or partner, and those who are single, perhaps after a divorce in midlife.
In contrast, among heterosexual men, the number of people who had not had sex in the previous three weeks did not increase dramatically with age.
Dr Brainard said: “These results could be seen as good news for older women who are having less sex than when they were younger, as they may know that this is normal.”
Only 31 percent of heterosexual women ages 45 to 49 said they had not had a sexual partner in the past three weeks. But that figure jumped to 47 percent of women between 50 and 54 years old (file image)
The findings come from a snapshot study that seeks to understand the risk of infection with mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, and looks at gay and bisexual men, heterosexual men and heterosexual women.
The authors conclude that all people are less likely to have regular sex as they age, but this change occurs at an earlier age and more dramatically in heterosexual women.
Only about a quarter of the women surveyed who were between 20 and 30 years old had not had sex with a partner in the previous three weeks.
This figure rose to about 37 percent for those in their 30s and 40s, and then settled at 31 percent for those in their 40s.
But then came the jump: 47 percent of women in their early fifties had not had sex recently, and 52 percent of those in their fifties.
By the time the women reached their sixties, about two-thirds had not had sex in the previous three weeks, and by their seventies, more than three-quarters said they had not.
For heterosexual men, only about half said they had not had sex recently, and this percentage stayed about the same for all age groups, from their late forties to over 75.
Men can avoid a midlife sexual crisis by having partners younger than them, who are still more interested in sex.
But it may also be the case that male pride means that men are less likely to admit or remember not having had sex in the past three weeks, while women are more likely to underreport the sex they are having.
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, interestingly found that very few British heterosexuals have had two or more different partners in the past three weeks.
Having multiple recent sexual partners was most common among 18- to 24-year-olds, reported by about 14 percent of this age group.
WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON SONGS PEOPLE LISTEN TO DURING SEX?
According to Spotify, some of the best sex songs of this year are:
- He Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey) by The Weeknd
- Birthday sex by Jeremih
- Often by The Weeknd
- All the time by Jeremih, Lil Wayne, Natasha Mosley
- Ginuwine Pony
- Walk through SoMo
- Sex with me by Rihanna
- Trey Songz Slow Motion
- Or Nah (featuring The Weeknd, Wiz Khalifa and DJ Mustard) – Ty Dolla $ign Remix
- The Weeknd’s Hills
A new app called Bed Beats allows couples to customize their sex playlists based on their movements during sex.
