Ever questioned if your bedroom activity is up to par?
Curiously, there's an average number that quantifies how often people typically have sex—and it might just surprise you.
In 2022, a TikToker sparked widespread curiosity by revealing what he referred to as the "magic number."
For him and many others, this number seemed astonishingly high, making them feel like they were falling behind.
People Surprised By How Frequently The Average Person Really Has Sex In a viral video, Daniel Schaal (@thatschaalfolks) addressed his audience directly: "The average person has sex 54 times a year or so, looks like the next few days are gonna be pretty crazy for me."
This statistic triggered waves of laughter across TikTok.
Many users humorously shared their reactions, mirroring his feelings.
"I'm the reason it's not 100 times a year lol," joked one user.
Auto Draft Another commented, "I'm bringing down the average so you guys feel better about yourselves."
And a third chimed in with, "Well someone here must be doing it 54 extra times to make up for me."
The data, pulled from the Archives of Sexual Behavior, stems from a 2017 study.
Findings from the research show that the average person has sex about once a week.
The study also highlighted a decline in sexual frequency compared to data from the 1990s.
Auto Draft Additional research in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science proposed that having sex once a week might be optimal for sustaining happiness.
This comprehensive study, which spanned over four decades and included data from over 30,000 Americans, concluded that more frequent sex doesn't necessarily increase happiness, although less frequent sex was associated with lower levels of contentment.
It's possible that the data was impacted by the pandemic.
The onset of lockdown measures appeared to offer a potential increase in sexual activity among couples living together.
Often, a hectic lifestyle is cited as the reason for a diminishing sex life.
Auto Draft Yet, with everyone transitioning to working from home and managing life's many aspects remotely, people suddenly found themselves with more free time.
There was even talk of a potential Covid-19 baby boom, as sex became a popular way to pass time for couples confined at home.
However, a decline in condom sales in March suggested a different story; according to the CEO of Durex, it wasn't just about fewer opportunities for singles.
He observed that even those with increased opportunities were surprisingly having less sex.
In a discussion with the BBC, Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, the parent company of Durex, remarked:
Auto Draft "What you see is this virus is having a toll on the number of intimate occasions in the UK."
"Intimate occasions are going down and that is a manifestation of anxiety."
