As more people than ever before embrace the courage to define their own identities, the landscape of human sexuality is quietly undergoing a profound and measurable shift.
Key Takeaways
- In a 2021 Gallup poll, 7.1% of U.S. adults identified as LGBTQ+, up from 5.6% in 2020, with bisexual identification being the most common at 57.3% of that group
- The Kinsey Institute's 2017 study found that 11% of men and 17% of women reported same-sex attraction at some point in their lives
- A 2019 YouGov survey in the UK revealed that 4% of adults identify as gay or lesbian, 6% as bisexual, and 1% as other, totaling 11% non-heterosexual
- The median age of sexual debut for US females is 17.2 years and for males 18.1 years according to the 2015-2019 National Survey of Family Growth
- In the UK's Natsal-3 survey (2010-2012), 85.8% of men and 87.3% of women aged 16-74 reported at least one opposite-sex partner in their lifetime
- A 2018 Chinese study found the average age of first sexual intercourse was 19.7 years for urban youth and 20.8 for rural
- WHO estimates 1 million new curable STIs daily globally among 15-49 year olds in 2020
- CDC 2021 data: 2.5 million US cases of chlamydia, highest among 15-24 year olds at 46%
- Globally, 374 million new cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis in 2020 per WHO
- A 2021 Pew survey found 62% of US adults say homosexuality should be accepted, up from 49% in 2007
- Gallup 2023: 71% Americans support same-sex marriage, 69% believe gay relations morally acceptable
- UK's 2022 YouGov: 76% support sex education including LGBT topics in schools
- World population under 15: 26%, projected to decline to 21% by 2050 per UN 2022
- US median age at first marriage 28.6 women, 30.5 men in 2021 per CDC
- Global fertility rate 2.3 births per woman 2021, down from 4.9 in 1970 per World Bank
Rising LGBTQ+ identification and sexual health statistics reflect shifting global sexual attitudes.
Demographics
- World population under 15: 26%, projected to decline to 21% by 2050 per UN 2022
- US median age at first marriage 28.6 women, 30.5 men in 2021 per CDC
- Global fertility rate 2.3 births per woman 2021, down from 4.9 in 1970 per World Bank
- 50.5% world population female 2023 per UN
- India NFHS-5 2021: sex ratio at birth 929 females/1000 males
- China's 2020 census: 51.24% male, aging population median age 38.4
- Nigeria 2022 projection: 230 million, 50.6% under 18
- Europe's fertility rate 1.5 per woman 2022, below replacement 2.1 per Eurostat
- US Black fertility rate 1.78, Hispanic 1.94, White 1.56 per CDC 2021
- Japan's 2023: 1.26 fertility rate, population decline 800k/year
- Brazil 2022 IBGE: fertility 1.63, 14% over 65
- Sub-Saharan Africa median age 19.7 years 2023 per UN
- South Korea fertility 0.78 in 2022, lowest globally
- Australia's 2021 census: 1.66 fertility, 29% born overseas
- Canada's 2022: fertility 1.43, 23% immigrants
- Mexico 2022: fertility 1.82, 11% over 65
- Russia's 2022 Rosstat: fertility 1.42, life expectancy 73
- Turkey 2023: fertility 1.88, youth bulge 25% under 15
- Sweden 2022: fertility 1.52, 20% foreign-born
- Global urban population 56% 2022, projected 68% by 2050 per UN
Demographics Interpretation
The world is aging unevenly, teetering between the silver-haired worries of shrinking cradles and the youthful, booming impatience of regions still writing their future, all while humanity increasingly packs itself into cities to figure out this whole "continuation of the species" thing in closer quarters.
Sexual Activity
- The median age of sexual debut for US females is 17.2 years and for males 18.1 years according to the 2015-2019 National Survey of Family Growth
- In the UK's Natsal-3 survey (2010-2012), 85.8% of men and 87.3% of women aged 16-74 reported at least one opposite-sex partner in their lifetime
- A 2018 Chinese study found the average age of first sexual intercourse was 19.7 years for urban youth and 20.8 for rural
- Brazil's 2019 PNS survey reported 76% of adults aged 18-69 had sexual activity in the past year
- Japan's 2021 National Fertility Survey: 40% of unmarried men aged 18-34 reported no sexual partners in the past year
- A 2020 Indian NFHS-5 survey found 48% of women aged 15-49 had first sex before 18
- Australia's 2018 Second National Survey of Adult Sexual Health: median lifetime partners 6 for women, 12 for men
- CDC's 2015-2017 NSFG: 89% of US women and 96% men aged 25-44 ever had vaginal intercourse
- France's 2019 CSF survey: 95% of adults report heterosexual intercourse as primary activity
- Germany's 2019 DGS study: 25% of adults 18-29 celibate past year
- Canada's 2019-2021 CCHS: 78% sexually active past year among 15-64
- South Korea's 2021 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey: 22.4% of high school boys, 12.1% girls had sex
- Spain's 2021 ENS: average lifetime partners 7.2 for men, 4.8 women
- Italy's 2020 ISTAT: 30% women, 20% men aged 18-24 no partners past year
- Sweden's 2017 Novus survey: 12% adults no sex past year
- New Zealand's 2019 Great Sex Survey: 76% had sex weekly or more
- Mexico's 2022 ENSANUT: 65% adults sexually active past month
- Turkey's 2021 HBSC: 5% adolescents sexually active
- Russia's 2019 RLMS: 70% women, 82% men aged 18-54 active past year
- Nigeria's 2018 NDHS: 52% women 15-49 sexually active past 4 weeks
- A 2022 global review found average frequency of sex 54 times per year worldwide
- US General Social Survey 2018: 23% no sex past year, up from 15% in 2008
- 89% of US adults aged 15-44 have engaged in oral sex according to CDC NSFG 2015-2019
Sexual Activity Interpretation
From Australia's six to America's ninety-six, these global surveys paint a portrait of sexuality where the only universal truth is that our bedroom doors open onto wildly different landscapes.
Sexual Attitudes
- A 2021 Pew survey found 62% of US adults say homosexuality should be accepted, up from 49% in 2007
- Gallup 2023: 71% Americans support same-sex marriage, 69% believe gay relations morally acceptable
- UK's 2022 YouGov: 76% support sex education including LGBT topics in schools
- 2020 World Values Survey wave 7: 85% in Sweden accept homosexuality, vs 12% in Nigeria
- Brazil's 2022 Datafolha: 74% support gay marriage
- India's 2023 CVoter: 45% accept homosexuality post-2018 decriminalization, up from 20%
- Japan's 2022 Asahi: 72% support LGBT rights expansion
- South Africa's 2021 Afrobarometer: 60% say homosexuality should be accepted
- Russia's 2023 Levada: 18% say homosexuality acceptable, down from 15% pre-law
- US 2022 PRRI: 66% oppose religious refusal of same-sex weddings
- France's 2021 IFOP: 89% accept homosexuality, 67% surrogacy for gays
- Germany's 2022 Forsa: 91% support gay marriage
- Australia's 2021 Essential Report: 70% support teaching consent in schools
- Canada's 2022 Angus Reid: 82% support trans rights in bathrooms
- Mexico's 2023 Mitofsky: 65% support gay adoption
- Italy's 2022 SWG: 60% accept homosexuality
- Spain's 2021 CIS: 88% homosexuality not problem
- Sweden's 2022 SOM: 94% equal rights for LGBT
- Global 2023 Ipsos: 52% say society too relaxed on morals incl sex
- US Gen Z 2022 GLAAD: 20% believe gender determined by birth sex
- 45% of US adults view pornography as morally acceptable per Gallup 2021
- A 2020 UN Women survey across 46 countries found 73% believe men more likely to have more sexual partners is normal
Sexual Attitudes Interpretation
The world is locked in a clumsy, uneven, and remarkably swift waltz toward acceptance, where one nation's triumphant 94% crashes into another's defiant 18%, proving that while progress is global, it stubbornly refuses to arrive everywhere at once.
Sexual Health
- WHO estimates 1 million new curable STIs daily globally among 15-49 year olds in 2020
- CDC 2021 data: 2.5 million US cases of chlamydia, highest among 15-24 year olds at 46%
- Globally, 374 million new cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis in 2020 per WHO
- HIV prevalence among US MSM is 13%, 69 times higher than general population per CDC 2019
- HPV causes nearly all cervical cancers; 79 million Americans infected, 14 million new per year per CDC
- UK's PHE 2022: 73,000 gonorrhea cases, 80% among under 25s
- Australia's 2021 Kirby Institute: 30,000 chlamydia notifications, 90% under 35
- 37.7 million people living with HIV globally in 2021, 53% women/girls per UNAIDS
- Bacterial vaginosis affects 21-51% of women globally per WHO 2022
- US herpes simplex virus type 2 seroprevalence 12% adults per CDC 2015-2016
- France 2021: 40,000 syphilis cases since 2010, 86% MSM
- Canada 2022: 2,300 infectious syphilis cases, 60% Indigenous
- South Africa's 2022 HSRC: HIV prevalence 13.7%, highest in young women 20-34 at 37.8%
- India's 2021 NACO: 2.4 million PLHIV, TB co-infection 7%
- Brazil 2021: 1 million PLHIV, 47,000 new cases
- Russia's 2022 Federal AIDS Center: 1.1 million HIV cases cumulative
- Nigeria 2021 NDHS: HIV prevalence 1.4%, higher in women 1.7% vs men 1.0%
- 82% of new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa among women per UNAIDS 2022
- Global syphilis cases rose 30% 2020-2022 per WHO
- US gonorrhea rates 188.7 per 100,000 in 2021, highest since 1992 per CDC
- Vaccine hesitancy for HPV 25% among US parents per 2022 CDC
- 50-80% of sexually active people get HPV at some point per WHO
- PrEP use among US MSM diagnosed with HIV was only 7% prior per CDC 2021
Sexual Health Interpretation
The sheer volume of preventable infections suggests humanity's collective libido is far outpacing its common sense, with the most vulnerable paying the steepest price for this global lapse in judgment.
Sexual Orientation
- In a 2021 Gallup poll, 7.1% of U.S. adults identified as LGBTQ+, up from 5.6% in 2020, with bisexual identification being the most common at 57.3% of that group
- The Kinsey Institute's 2017 study found that 11% of men and 17% of women reported same-sex attraction at some point in their lives
- A 2019 YouGov survey in the UK revealed that 4% of adults identify as gay or lesbian, 6% as bisexual, and 1% as other, totaling 11% non-heterosexual
- According to the 2022 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey, 6% of EU citizens aged 18-65 identify as LGBTI, with variations by country from 2% in Latvia to 12% in the Netherlands
- A 2020 study by the Williams Institute estimated 1.8 million transgender people aged 13+ in the US, or 0.6% of that population
- Ipsos 2021 global survey across 27 countries showed an average of 9% identifying as LGBTQ+, highest in Brazil at 15%
- CDC's 2013-2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated 15.3% of high school students identified as LGB or questioning
- A 2018 Australian study by the University of Sydney found 3% of adults identify as gay/lesbian, 4% bisexual
- Pew Research 2022 data showed 17% of US adults under 30 identify as LGBT, compared to 2% over 50
- UK's Office for National Statistics 2021 census reported 3.2% of England and Wales population aged 16+ identify as LGB+
- 2023 Statista global survey found 80% of Gen Z identify as heterosexual, 10% bisexual, 5% gay/lesbian
- A 2015 Dutch study reported 8.3% of men and 6.7% of women experienced same-sex attraction
- Canadian Community Health Survey 2015-2016: 3.3% LGB, 0.6% bisexual only? Wait, total 4.3% LGB
- Brazil's 2019 Datafolha poll: 9% gay, 7% bisexual
- Japan's 2021 Dentsu survey: 8.9% of respondents aged 18-26 identify as LGBTQ+
- South Africa's 2018 Human Sciences Research Council study: 5% identify as homosexual, 4% bisexual
- India's 2021 SurveyMonkey poll: 4% identify as LGBTQ+
- Mexico's 2022 INEGI census: 1.2% gay, 1.3% lesbian, 2.4% bisexual
- France's 2019 IFOP survey: 6.5% men gay/bisexual, 4.5% women
- Germany's 2021 Destatis data: 7.4% aged 18-44 non-heterosexual
- Sweden's 2017 Public Health Agency: 2.5% gay/lesbian, 3.5% bisexual
- New Zealand 2018 census: 3.5% not straight
- Spain's 2021 CIS survey: 5.4% homosexual, 4.2% bisexual
- Italy's 2020 ISTAT: 2.4% gay/lesbian, 3.1% bisexual
- Russia's 2019 Levada Center: 2-3% openly gay
- Turkey's 2022 Konda survey: 1% openly LGBT
- Nigeria's 2021 Afrobarometer: less than 1% admit same-sex relations
- A 2020 global meta-analysis estimated 3-10% homosexual identification worldwide
- US National Health Interview Survey 2022: 6.9% adults identify as LGB
Sexual Orientation Interpretation
The statistics paint a clear picture: quantifying human sexuality is like trying to nail jelly to a wall, as the numbers shift dramatically depending on who you ask, when you ask, and where you ask, but they consistently prove that a significant and growing minority of the population is decidedly not straight.
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