Quality or quantity? New study on the sex lives of French people

“More diversity, less intensity”: this is how the sexual life of the French can be summed up in a few words by Nathalie Bajos, sociologist and research director at Inserm, who recently conducted a study on the sexuality of the French over the past 5 years. While the French, with their slightly nonchalant attitude and cigarette in hand, often evoke a high level of sexiness to foreigners, inadvertently giving them the reputation of being unscrupulous charmers, the survey results actually show that numerous factors are at play and significant changes have taken place over the years. Let’s explore the various points that make up today’s contemporary paradox of French sexuality.

Partners: who, what, how many?

According to the survey conducted among 32,000 participants, the number of partners among the French has increased, rising from 3.4 for women in 1992 to 3.9 in 2023 and from 11.2 to 16.4 for men during the same period. Multiple partnerships, referring to interactions with several partners within the past twelve months, have also become more common among young people aged 18 to 29. It rose from 9.6% in 1992 to 23.9% in 2023 for women and from 22.9% to 32.3% for men. In addition to the acceptance of homosexuality in society (finally, one might say), there is more frequent attraction towards individuals of the same sex: in 2023, 13.4% of men and 7.6% of women reported having felt attracted to people of the same gender at some point in their lives. This result is particularly pronounced among 18-29 year-olds: 32.3% for women and 13.8% for men.

How often and how?

The study reveals that the frequency of sexual intercourse over the past four weeks tends to decrease each year. It has dropped from 8.6 for women in 2006 to 6.0 in 2023 and from 8.7 to 6.7 for men over the same period. Regarding the practices themselves, it seems that French sexuality is less centered on vaginal penetration, according to Nathalie Barjos. Practices such as masturbation, especially among women, have surged over three decades (72.9% in 2023 versus 42.4% in 1992), as well as anal penetration (+15.5 points during the same period among women and +27.8 among men) and oral sex. “It should be noted that there remain significant gender differences in the declarations, especially concerning masturbation and anal penetration,” observes Inserm.

Major changes for the “chronically online” Gen-Z

In 2023, 33% of women and 46.6% of men reported having had an online sexual experience with another person (through a dedicated site connection, meeting a partner, exchanging intimate images). Additionally, there is a noted normalization among young people of sending nudes, or intimate photos: 36.6% of women and 39.6% of men aged 18-29 have sent an intimate image at least once in their life, while 47.8% of women and 53.6% of men in this age group have received one. This was the first time Inserm measured such practices within the entire population.

Furthermore, researchers have observed that the sexual activity of the French over the past twelve months has decreased since the last surveys conducted in 1992 and 2006, regardless of gender or age group. “In 1992, 86.4% of women aged 18 to 69 had sexual intercourse during the previous year; this proportion fell to 82.9% in 2006 and to 77.2% in 2023. Similarly, the percentage of men who had sex over the past year dropped from 92.1% in 1992 to 89.1% in 2006 and 81.6% in 2023,” wrote the Inserm researchers. Among 18-29 year-olds in 2023, 79.4% of women and 74.1% of men reported having had sexual intercourse within the year, compared to 83.7% and 85.9% respectively in 1992. One in two young singles had no sexual intercourse over the past twelve months. These results raise questions about the very definition of sexual activity, suggesting that a real redefinition of sexual norms and activities is currently underway in France. In any case, it doesn't matter what you do, who you do it with, where you do it or for how long, the important thing, as always, is to go out (or in) covered and always in a caring way.