the French, and in particular young people, are making love less and less, according to a survey

An Ifop study for the sex toy company Lelo shows an “unprecedented decline in sexual activity in France, particularly among young people.

The French, and in particular 18-24 year olds, are making love less and less, according to an Ifop survey for the sex toy company Lelo, obtained by France Inter on Tuesday February 6.

The proportion of people “sexually initiated”, that is to say having already slept with someone in their life, who declare having had sexual intercourse in the last twelve months is 76%. This represents a drop of 15 points compared to 2006. The study thus evokes a “unprecedented decline in sexual activity” In France.

According to Ifop, this rise in sexual inactivity particularly affects young people. More than a quarter of 18-24 year olds who have been sexually initiated (28%) admit to not having had sexual intercourse in one year, compared to 5% in 2006. 35% of French people aged 50-59 also admit to having been sexually inactive in recent years. last twelve months, while they were 10% in 2006. “Before, the French thought that it was necessary to have sexual intercourse two to three times a week, today the notion of sobriety, which is quite general, also translates into matters of sexuality”note on the microphone of France Inter François Kraus, director of the gender, sexuality and sexual health division of Ifop.

A quarter of people in relationships have no or no more physical intimacy

Single people do not have a monopoly on sexual abstinence, since one in four people currently in a relationship (16% of the 65% of French people in a relationship) admit to not or no longer having physical intimacy with their partner. Conversely, one in five single people (6% of the 31% of single French people) say they have occasional sexual partners.

The study also notes a drop in the frequency of sexual activity: 43% of French people report having sexual intercourse per week on average, compared to 58% in 2009. Ifop explains that this “contraction of sexual activity takes place in a context of growing dissociation between conjugality and sexuality”. For example, more than half of adult women (54%) and 42% of men say they could live with someone in a purely platonic relationship. The French thus seem more and more to think that they “are no longer obliged to have an intense or hectic sex life to succeed in their relationship”explains François Kraus.

Sexuality therefore occupies a much smaller place in the lives of French women today: 62% of women give importance to sexuality in their lives, compared to 82% in 1996. And this abstinence poses much more of a problem for men. (60%) than women (30%). Two out of three women (69%) admit to coping easily with the absence of sexual relations, compared to 48% of men. More and more French people also say they are asexual (15% of women and 9% of men), that is to say they do not feel sexual attraction to others.

Sex in competition with screens

The causes of this “sexual recession” are many. It is firstly part of a context of revolution in the relationship to consent. French women are indeed much less willing to force themselves to make love than 40 years ago. More than half (52%) of women aged 18 to 49 say that they sometimes make love without wanting to, compared to 76% in 1981.

Among singles, abstinence is above all “the absence of an attractive partner” (63%). The majority of men admit that their sexual inactivity is due to their inability to please (61%), to find someone who would want to make love with them (62%).

Finally, competition from screens on sex is greatly felt, particularly among young people. Nearly half of those under 35 who live as a couple under the same roof (50% of men, 42% of women) admit, for example, to having already avoided sexual intercourse to watch a series or a film. 53% of men under 35 living as a couple also admit to having already preferred to play a video game. 48% of men and 19% of women admit to having already avoided sexual intercourse to consult their social networks, in particular Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.

Methodology. This Ifop study for Lelo was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire online from December 29, 2023 to January 2, 2024 with a sample of 1,911 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over.