UK sexual behaviours

Main changes since 1990 and some average numbers:

• increased numbers of heterosexual partners ever and in the past five years
• more same sex experiences in the past five years
• more concurrent partnerships
• more oral and anal sex in the past year
• higher incidence of consistent condom use in the past four weeks
• more men reported paying for sex in the past five years.
• The average age at first intercourse has fallen from 17 to 16 for both men and women.(2)
• Nearly a third (30 per cent) of men and a quarter (26 per cent) of women aged 16–19 first had sexual intercourse before the age of 16.
• About 80 per cent of people aged 16–24 said they had used a condom when they first had sex, compared with 40 per cent of those in their early 30s. Less than one in ten (7.4 per cent men, 9.8 per cent women) had used no contraception at all when they first had sex, compared with about 25 per cent of those in their early 30s.
• The average numbers of lifetime partners increased between 1990 and 2000, from 8.6 to 12.7 for men and from 3.7 to 6.5 for women. The proportion having ten or more partners in their lifetime also increased, from 31.4 per cent to 34.6 per cent of men, and from 9.7 per cent to 19.4 per cent of women.
• The average frequency of heterosexual intercourse per month was 6.4 for men and 6.5 for women.

Source: Sexual Behaviours Factsheet FPA.org

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