The number of people reporting having had sexual activity with a partner during the year is decreasing. However, this study shows that the French have more different partners over the course of a lifetime and notes a greater diversity of sexual practices.
A survey published this Wednesday, November 13 notes a “contemporary paradox of sexuality” in France with in particular French people who have more partners, more diverse practices and a growing digital sexuality but, at the same time, this study observes a drop in certain indicators of sexual activity.
This survey, carried out by Inserm, ANRS and Santé publique France, is the culmination of five years of data collection from 32,000 participants.
More sexual partners
According to this study, the age of first sexual intercourse has increased slightly since 2019 to reach in 2023 the median age of 18.2 years for women and 17.7 years for men. This age had decreased by almost three years between the early 1960s and the 2000s (from 20.1 years to 17.3 years).
Conversely, we observe an increase in the number of sexual partners. Last year, women aged 18-69 reported having an average of 7.9 partners in their lifetime (compared to 3.4 in 1992 and 4.5 in 2006). The gap remains significant with men, who report 16.4 partners on average.
Over the last twelve months, among 18-29 year olds, nearly one in four women declared having had several partners in the last year, compared to 19% in 2006 and 9.6% in 1992. For men, this figure rises. to one in three compared to 29% in 2006 and 22.9% in 1992.
An increase in people “very satisfied with their current sex life”
This survey published this Wednesday nevertheless highlights a decline in certain indicators of sexual activity. As an illustration, in 2023, 77.2% of women and 81.6% of men aged 18-69 report having had sexual activity with a partner during the year compared to 82.9% in 2006 for women and 89.1% for men.
The absence of sexual activity during the year is more often suitable for women, young people and older people, even if 56.6% of women and 73.8% of men say they remain sexually active between the ages of 50 and 89.
Slightly increasing indicator: 45% of women and 39% of men say they are “very satisfied with their current sex life”.
“Diffusion of sexual practices”
The study entitled “Context of sexualities in France” notes what it calls a “diffusion of sexual practices”. She cites, for example, the fact that 72.9% of women and 92.6% of men aged 18-69 say they have already practiced masturbation, a figure that is clearly increasing among women (56.5% in 2006 and 42.4% in 1992).
In 2023, 38.9% of women and 57.4% of men aged 18-69 report having already had sex with anal penetration. “This practice is integrated later into the sexual repertoire, especially among women, being more frequent among 30-39 year olds than among 18-29 year olds,” we can read in the survey.
“These developments show the broadening of sexual repertoires, observed since the beginning of the 1970s, which outlines a much more diversified sexuality and less and less restricted to relationships with vaginal penetration,” she adds.
Nearly 9% have had a same-sex partner
These developments are also accompanied by a questioning of the heterosexual norm with increasing social acceptance of homosexuality and an increase in same-sex partners, particularly among women.
In 2023, 8.8% of women and 8.9% of men aged 18-89 report having had at least one partner of the same sex during their life.
“These developments are part of a context of change in the rights of same-sex couples, marked by the law on marriage for all 2013 and by that on the legislation opening access to PMA to couples of women and single women 2021” , details the study.
Sexualities in digital spaces
This report also highlights a real revolution in the use of digital spaces in the sexuality of the French. In 2023, one in three women and almost one in two men have had an online sexual experience with another person, for example, connecting to a dedicated site, meeting a partner or exchanging intimate images . And these figures rise to 63.9% of those under 30 and 72.8% of men of the same age.
The other side of the coin is that 13.1% of women and 12.8% of men say they have already had a harmful experience online.
On the subject of sexual violence, this Wednesday's survey shows that it is being reported more and more. In 2023, 29.8% of women and 8.7% of men aged 18-69 report having experienced forced sex or attempted forced sex during their lifetime. Among those under 30 it is even 36.8% of women and 12.4% of men of the same age.
This reflects “increase in frequency with reduced tolerance for sexual violence, particularly domestic violence, but also a greater capacity to qualify these facts and declare them in surveys”.
Insufficient prevention
In their study, Inserm, ANRS and Public Health France also observed insufficient prevention during sexual intercourse. In 2023, 75.2% of women and 84.5% of men use a condom during their first sexual encounter, figures down slightly (more than 90% in 2004-2006 for men and 85% for women).
“The recent decline in prevention at first intercourse, which could contribute to the increase in STI rates reported since the early 2000s, calls into question current prevention policies,” note the specialists.
We note in particular limited prevention during new sexual relations with 49.4% of women and 52.6% of men using a condom during their first sexual intercourse with a partner met in the last twelve months.
The condom remains the most used method of contraception (91% of women aged 18-49). Next comes the intrauterine device (IUD), used by 27.7% of women, followed by the pill, used by 26.8% of women. A figure in notable decline since it was 55.8% in 2005.
Finally, in 2023, 63.5% of women and 52.9% of men aged 15-29 are vaccinated against hepatitis B while 50.6% of women and 20.2% of men of the same age are vaccinated. against papillomavirus while the prevalence of Chlamydia infection is 2.2% among women aged 18 to 29 and 1.9% among men of the same age. age.
Margaux de Frouville with Salomé Robles
