The Global Sex Index
Sex Across the Globe and How We do it Differently
Sex is a universal pleasure. No matter where you are in the world, sex between people is a prominent part of life.
To explore and compare the sex lives and interests of people around the world we looked into search data to identify which sex-related terms had been the most searched for over the last year. From this data, we can reveal each country’s favourite sex position, sex toy, and the frequency with which each country searches for sex toys and sex shops. We also took a peek at some country’s porn trends to see which countries were the most porn obsessed and what kind of porn they were most obsessed with.
Here at NowPatient, we make it our business to help people to get the most out of sex while taking care of their sexual health, whether they are concerned with performance, presentation, or sexually transmitted infections. STIs such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and genital herpes, have dominated much of the discussions when it comes to practicing safe sex. While we’re all aware of these more common problems, many of us can forget about the importance of our mental and social health when it comes to sex. Your sexual health is about understanding what you and your partner want from sex, your likes and dislikes, as well as understanding both consent and boundaries. If you’re considering switching things up in the bedroom, be it introducing a new toy or experimenting with a new position, the best way to look after your social sexual health is through open communication with your partner(s).
The World’s Favourite Sex Positions and Toys
Every country's Favourite Sex Positions
The most common top searched sex position was doggy style, with missionary following close behind and cowgirl taking third place. This is not surprising as these positions are all-time winners - some of the most traditional and classic positions we find ourselves in in the bedroom. In fact, over 90% of the countries in this list had one of these positions as their number one, with doggy championing over 50%.
While these positions are classics, it also helps that they are pretty intuitive - especially when compared to some of the more complex positions we came across. We encourage you to do your own research into the area should you want to brighten your day, and potentially your evening.
Every country's Favourite Sex toys
The most common top searched sex toy was the dildo, with Fleshlights a close second. 72% of the countries listed reported that dildo was the most searched after sex toy by their inhabitants, with Fleshlights making up 20.8%.
The dildo has been the ultimate sex toy since, well, forever. In 2015, what is considered to be the oldest known sex toy dating back over 28,000 years was discovered during a cave excavation in Germany. Any guesses for what it is? That's right. A 7.8 inch stone dildo. This prehistoric sex toy gives a whole new definition of being rock hard
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Country |
Position |
Toy |
Monthly searches for |
|---|
The Most Sex Obsessed Countries
To investigate how sex-obsessed each country is, we looked at total search data for a curated list of 48 sex toys and online sex shops (dildo, Lovehoney, etc.) to see which countries were searching for these items and where to find them the most. We recorded the results as average searches per 100,000 people per month.
3,422
Searches per 100,000 people a month
The UK took the top spot, with 3422 average monthly searches per 100,000 people. That’s over a thousand more monthly searches than the next country on this list. When it comes to experimenting with bedroom toys, the Brits are by far the keenest.
2,002
Searches per 100,000 people a month
Next on this list is the UK’s closest neighbor: the Republic of Ireland. With an average monthly search volume of 2002 per 100,000 people, The Republic of Ireland takes the runner-up title for most searches for sex toys and sex shops in the world.
1,542
Searches per 100,000 people a month
In the third top spot comes Malta, with 1542 average monthly searches, less than half the monthly average than in the UK. Having become independent from Britian in 1964, it appears Malta still shares some cultural preferences when it comes to sex.
Porn Popularity by Country
Taking data from Pornhub's 2021 Year in Review, we took a deep dive into the world’s search trends when it came to porn. At the end of 2021, Pornhub released some interesting in-depth data for the top 20 countries using their site and identified their top trends and searches. In addition, we added search data for how often each of these countries searched for porn online and calculated how this had changed from 2020 to 2021 to investigate how the demand for porn is evolving.
68,000,000
Average porn searches per month
Smashing the top of our list is the USA with 68 million monthly searches for porn, over four times higher than that of our runner-up. The USA’s most searched for term on Pornhub is Hentai, which is also the world's top searched for term in 2021, no doubt influenced by America’s frequent perusing of Hentai on the porn site.
16,600,000
Average porn searches per month
For the UK, dirty movies pulls in over 16 million average searches per month. It also appears the UK has a more homoerotic taste than the other countries in this list, with both the UK’s favourite category and search term being Lesbian. In addition, Pornhub revealed that searches for the term Lesbian Scissoring saw a 401% increase in the UK from 2020 to 2021, suggesting that the UK really does have an obsession with girl-on-girl action.
9,140,000
Average porn searches per month
Taking the number three spot on our list is Canada, whose citizens also appear to love both Lesbian and Hentai movies. Similar to the UK, Canadians demonstrated an increased appetite for lesbian videos, with a 321% increase in searches for Lesbian Scissoring. Canadians were also 72% more likely to view Female Orgasm and 51% more into Solo Female videos when compared to the rest of the world.
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Rank |
Country |
Avg. searches per month (Porn) |
Search increase 2020 - 2021 |
Favourite category 2021 |
Most searched term 2021 |
|---|
Interestingly, Japan was the only country on this list to demonstrate decreased searches for porn in 2021. Despite reaching the 13th highest monthly porn searches in the world and the 3rd highest traffic on Pornhub, the Japanese were just shy of a third less likely to search for porn over the last year, according to Ahref. This contrasts with other countries where most saw an increase in searches for porn of around 22%, with some as high as 49.7% (Brazil, looking at you).
We also see that for many countries their favourite categories and search terms revolve around their own nationalities and cultures. This simply suggests that perhaps unsurprisingly, people love to watch porn starring their native actors and actresses. Or they are just super patriotic, who knows.
While it's great fun to explore and contrast what people around the world are searching for when it comes to porn, we must note that porn addiction can be a real problem for many in the modern world. Both the accessibility and nature of porn have changed dramatically over recent decades, with hardcore videos mere clicks away on any search browser. Post millennium, rates of erectile dysfunction (ED) among young men has been on a sharp rise, and while ED can have a variety of complex causes including underlying health conditions, psychological factors, medications, and lifestyle factors, porn-induced ED is a major suspect for the increase in erectile dysfunction problems in young men who have previously been thought of as less susceptible to ED than their older counterparts. If you are affected by any of the above, NowPatient offers a number of ED treatments such as viagra and sildenafil along with free online consultations to determine if these treatments are right for you. While porn can be really amazing, it is important to understand how it could affect your health over time.
Sex is often all fun and games, but at the end of the day, it is crucial to take care of your own sexual health. This includes your physical, mental, and social-sexual health. For free, trusted, and confidential advice about sex visit your local doctor, community contraceptive clinic, or sexual health clinic. Call the UK national sexual health helpline, 0300 123 7123, for more details.
Methodology
We created a list of 48 sex toys (eg dildo and cock ring) and online sex shops (eg Lovehoney and Annsummers) and then investigated the search data for each of these keywords using Ahref’s Keyword Explorer. this allowed us to discover the average monthly searches for all keywords over the last year for each country.
This search excluded product-specific searches (like certain product brands and types) – so total sex toy and sex shop searches will likely be much higher than what is recorded here. This data, however, gives a strong indicator to which countries are searching the most, and what they are searching for.
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