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According to this study, the French are making love less often, but better!

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The Editor

© Passion simple, réalisé par Danielle Arbid - Les films Pélias

A large survey published this Wednesday, November 13, by Inserm reveals changes in the sexual practices of the French. The results highlight, among other things, less frequent but more varied relationships. 

What does the sexuality of the French look like? Has it notably evolved over the past twenty years? This is what a broad panel of scientists from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) attempted to answer in a survey titled Context of Sexualities in France, presented to the public on Wednesday, November 13, after five years of hard work.

This survey provides an overview of the practices, relationships, and sexual representations of the French. It is based on interviews conducted by phone and online with 31,518 people aged 15 to 89, residing in mainland France (for 21,259 of them) and in four overseas territories: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, and Guyana (10,259 people in total).

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Waiting to Hook Up and Enjoying Yourself 

The first finding of this research is that the French seem to be having sex less frequently. Even though the vast majority of the population has had sexual activity in the past year, including among seniors, all indicators are down. In 1992, 86.4% of women aged 18 to 69 had sexual intercourse in the previous year, compared to 77.2% in 2023, a drop of almost 10%. For men, the figure goes from 92.1% in 1992 to 81.6% in 2023. It’s noted that the decline is less pronounced among those living as couples.

Another result is that the French are discovering the joys of sexuality later than the previous generation. Between the early 1960s and the early 2000s, the median age at first sexual encounter had increased by three years.

for women (20.1 years versus 17.3 years) and one and a half years for men (18.8 years versus 17.3 years). This trend has reversed since the end of the 2010s: women now have their first time at an average age of 18.2 years, compared to 17.7 years for men.

Does this trend relate to modesty? On the contrary, as French people are waiting longer to engage in the act, they are exploring the variety of sexual practices available to them: this is what scientists call the contemporary paradox of sexuality. The practice of oral sex and cunnilingus is on the rise for both women and men, as is anal penetration, which has increased among women (38.9% in 2023 versus 23.4% in 1992) and among men (57.4% in 2023 versus 26.9% in 1992). The sat...Sexual satisfaction has seen a lovely boost, for both women (45.3% in 2023 compared to 43.6% in 2006) and men (39% in 2023 compared to 35.1% in 2006).

The study also touches on the number of partners, which is increasing for both genders: women have gone from an average of 3.4 partners in their lifetime in 1992 to 7.9 in 2023. Men, those charming heartthrobs, have widened the gap with an average of 16.4 partners compared to 11.9 in 2006. About 9% of women and men report having had a relationship with a same-gender partner, a number that has risen significantly. 


An increase in sexual violence 

The survey also reveals a rise in sexual violence, particularly against women. In 2023, 29.8% of women aged 18 to 69 reported having experienced a forced sexual encounter or an attempt, compared to 15.9% in 2006. For men, this rate increased from 4.6% in 2006 to 8.7% in 2023. According to Nathalie Bajos, a sociologist and research director at Inserm, interviewed by Huffpost, « The #MeToo movement hasn’t caused a surge in reports of violence, but it is changing the normative frameworks around sexual consent and is part of a long-term shift ».


A Still Marginal Research Topic 

While talking about sex, practices, and protections is becoming less taboo in public spaces, research on these topics still seems quite limited. When we dive into scientific literature, it turns out that this area of study is only the fourth of its kind. The report specifies that the first study was conducted in 1970 with 2,600 people, followed in 1992 by the survey Analysis of Sexual Behaviors in France, which saw the number of participants increase tenfold to reach 20,000 individuals. 

Even more striking, the first part of the study Context of Sexualities...

eacute;s en France was conducted in 2006: it took 18 years for the results to be updated in the report decoded here. The topic of sexuality remains largely underrepresented, even though the production of studies is essential to understand the impact of societal transformations – whether social, economic, or technological – on the intimate relationships of the French. 

However, we can celebrate a representativeness never seen before: the survey is based on the testimonies of about 31,000 respondents, a record sample size for this type of report, aged 15 to 89 years, compared to 18 to 69 years in previous surveys.