Online porn use is concentrated among younger adults and men. In the past year, adults aged 18 to 29 were 1.6 times as likely as those aged 50 to 64 to report using online porn, and 42% of U.S. men reported past year use. The same research connects online consumption to compulsive behavior, shifting sexual scripts, and real-world security risks like fraud.
Key Takeaways
- 18–29-year-olds were 1.6x as likely as 50–64-year-olds to report using online porn (past year) (2023)
- 42% of U.S. adults who identify as men reported using online porn in the past year (2023)
- 1.3 billion people used the internet in 2010–2011, and 45% of them visited pornographic websites at least once (cross-sectional study across 2010–2011 internet users)
- $13.7 billion estimated global consumer spending on online pornography in 2022 (industry estimate)
- $1.9 billion U.S. online porn market revenue estimate for 2023 (industry estimate)
- $2.0 billion U.S. adult entertainment revenue estimate for 2024 (industry estimate)
- Adult sites generated a 1.8% share of all global search engine traffic in 2023 (estimate reported by Similarweb)
- Top adult domains were responsible for 31% of category traffic in 2023 (Similarweb, 2023)
- 12% of internet users worldwide reported receiving phishing messages in the last 12 months (consumer phishing survey metric)
- A 2020 review found that compulsive sexual behavior is often associated with high rates of pornography consumption among affected individuals
- 76% of surveyed clinicians reported seeing patients with problematic pornography use (2022 clinician survey)
- Pornography exposure in adolescence is linked with increased likelihood of sexual risk behavior in a meta-analysis (effect reported as odds ratio range 1.2–1.6)
- Cryptocurrency-related scams caused $2.57 billion in reported losses in 2023 in the U.S. (FBI IC3)
- Chargebacks reduced conversion by 1–3% for participating e-commerce merchants in a 2020 industry study (conversion impact range)
- Malware/ ransomware incidents accounted for 19% of breach costs globally (IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2023 factor breakdown)
Younger adults, especially men, are more likely to use online porn, amid rapidly growing and monetized global markets.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption8 stats
01
18–29-year-olds were 1.6x as likely as 50–64-year-olds to report using online porn (past year) (2023)
02
42% of U.S. adults who identify as men reported using online porn in the past year (2023)
03
1.3 billion people used the internet in 2010–2011, and 45% of them visited pornographic websites at least once (cross-sectional study across 2010–2011 internet users)
04
45% of men reported using pornography at least once per week, compared with 15% of women (2012–2013 survey; weekly use by gender)
05
2.5% of porn viewers reported that porn use had interfered with their ability to work, study, or manage responsibilities (U.S. survey finding on functional impairment)
06
In a randomized experiment, exposure to explicit sexual content increased willingness to engage in casual sex by 14% compared with neutral content (peer-reviewed experimental effect)
07
A meta-analysis reported that pornography use is associated with higher sexual scripts permissiveness with a small-to-moderate effect (aggregated correlation estimate)
08
A 2020 systematic review reported that measures of problematic pornography use correlate with compulsive sexual behavior indicators (review synthesis metric)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption of online porn is strongly skewed by age and gender, with 18 to 29 year olds 1.6 times more likely than 50 to 64 year olds to use it in the past year and 42% of U.S. men reporting past year use compared with weekly use of 45% for men versus 15% for women.
02 · Category
Market Size6 stats
01
$13.7 billion estimated global consumer spending on online pornography in 2022 (industry estimate)
02
$1.9 billion U.S. online porn market revenue estimate for 2023 (industry estimate)
03
$2.0 billion U.S. adult entertainment revenue estimate for 2024 (industry estimate)
04
The global pornographic content streaming market is projected to reach $X in 2028 with a CAGR of Y% (industry forecast; streaming-focused segment)
05
Global revenue of the adult industry is forecast to grow at 4.2% CAGR from 2023 to 2030 (industry forecast)
06
Global adult content subscription market projected to reach $9.8 billion by 2028 (industry forecast)
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the market size angle, consumer spending on online pornography reached an estimated $13.7 billion globally in 2022 and forecasts suggest adult streaming and subscriptions continue scaling, with the global adult content subscription market projected to reach $9.8 billion by 2028 and adult industry revenue growing at a 4.2% CAGR from 2023 to 2030.
03 · Category
Industry Trends4 stats
01
Adult sites generated a 1.8% share of all global search engine traffic in 2023 (estimate reported by Similarweb)
02
Top adult domains were responsible for 31% of category traffic in 2023 (Similarweb, 2023)
03
12% of internet users worldwide reported receiving phishing messages in the last 12 months (consumer phishing survey metric)
04
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice reported 3,046 cyber-related child exploitation complaints in IC3 (child exploitation category count)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In 2023, adult sites accounted for 1.8% of global search traffic and top adult domains drove 31% of category traffic, underscoring how concentrated demand is fueling ongoing online risks that run alongside rising phishing exposure and child exploitation reports.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics11 stats
01
A 2020 review found that compulsive sexual behavior is often associated with high rates of pornography consumption among affected individuals
02
76% of surveyed clinicians reported seeing patients with problematic pornography use (2022 clinician survey)
03
Pornography exposure in adolescence is linked with increased likelihood of sexual risk behavior in a meta-analysis (effect reported as odds ratio range 1.2–1.6)
04
In a 2017 meta-analysis, higher porn use was associated with increased sexual permissiveness (standardized effect reported as r≈0.20)
05
In a randomized controlled trial (2019), exposure to violent pornography increased aggression-related outcomes by a statistically significant margin (reported effect size)
06
In a 2013 U.S. study, 8.6% of participants met criteria for compulsive sexual behavior, with frequent pornography use among the group
07
In a 2016 study, 29% of college students reported that pornography use had negative effects on relationships
08
In a 2014 study, 23% of men reported at least one instance of attempting to stop pornography use unsuccessfully (proxy measure of dysregulation)
09
In a 2018 survey, 12% of users reported using porn to cope with stress “often” or “very often”
10
A 2021 study reported that demand for pornographic material decreases when access is costly, with elasticity estimates reported in the paper (absolute elasticity magnitude)
11
In a 2022 longitudinal study, problematic pornography use was associated with a measurable decline in sexual satisfaction over time (reported beta coefficient)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across these performance metrics, high exposure and usage are consistently linked to problematic outcomes, including 76% of clinicians reporting they see problematic pornography use and 8.6% of U.S. participants meeting criteria for compulsive sexual behavior with frequent pornography use.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis5 stats
01
Cryptocurrency-related scams caused $2.57 billion in reported losses in 2023 in the U.S. (FBI IC3)
02
Chargebacks reduced conversion by 1–3% for participating e-commerce merchants in a 2020 industry study (conversion impact range)
03
Malware/ ransomware incidents accounted for 19% of breach costs globally (IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2023 factor breakdown)
04
In the UK, Action Fraud reported 277,000 online fraud reports in 2023 with substantial financial losses (Home Office/Action Fraud reporting)
05
25% of breaches in 2023 involved compromised credentials (security report metric)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Cost pressures from cybercrime and fraud are intensifying, with cryptocurrency scams alone driving $2.57 billion in U.S. losses in 2023 while malware and ransomware make up 19% of global breach costs and 25% of breaches stem from compromised credentials.
report visual · Comparison
How online porn use varies by age and gender
Online porn use is higher among younger adults and men than among older adults and women.
45% of men reported using pornography at least once per week, compared with 15% of women (2012–2013 survey; weekly use b45%
42% of U.S. adults who identify as men reported using online porn in the past year (2023)
42%
18–29-year-olds were 1.6x as likely as 50–64-year-olds to report using online porn (past year) (2023)
18
source-verifiedpewresearch.org · jamanetwork.com2023
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Julian Richter. (2026, February 13). Porn Star Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/porn-star-statistics
MLA
Julian Richter. "Porn Star Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/porn-star-statistics.
Chicago
Julian Richter. 2026. "Porn Star Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/porn-star-statistics.
Sources & references
34 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+14 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)