Updated June 26, Reviewed by Davia Sills. As a clinical psychologist, a common question I get is: "Am I having a normal amount of sex?
Unless you're trying to make babies, sex is about pleasure, so "normal" is less important than "normal for you," but that's not what you want to hear. So, let's talk about statistics. Before we jump into numbers, we have to clarify what is considered sex. Definitions of sex vary widely among both individuals and couples. Some consider sex to be vaginal-penile penetration only. The most obvious limitation of this definition is that it excludes same-sex couples.
Others consider sex to be any sexual act, such as oral sex or masturbation. Some studies avoid this question by using "sexual activity" instead of "sex," which is more inclusive. Either way, most data come from self-reports, so statistics are based on what individual respondents consider to be sex or sexual activity. Regarding sexual frequency, there are three main findings from current research:.
Age and sex are the two factors that have the strongest effect on sex frequency. Americans in their 20s have sex about 80 times per year , approximately once every four to five days. That number drops to 20 times per year for those in their 60s. The percentage of Americans who are sexually active also decreases with age ; of those aged 57 to 64, 73 percent are sexually active; by ages 65 to 74, that number drops to 53 percent; and by ages 75 to 85, only 26 percent are sexually active.
Women are less likely to be sexually active than men at all ages. However, regardless of age, we are having less sex now than we were before. From to , the percentage of American men who reported having no sexual activity in the past year increased from This number also increased among women of the same age, but to a lesser degree. Income seemed to affect sexual inactivity, as inactivity was greatest among students and men with low income and part-time or no employment.
