Porn Use Statistics

​Here are some key statistics on pornography use (in the Internet era) that illustrate prevalence, gender differences, frequency, and age-patterns. These numbers come with caveats (self-reporting, sampling bias, different definitions of “use”), but they’re useful for getting a sense of scale:

Prevalence & Gender Differences
  • A U.S. adult sample found 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women reported having consumed pornography in the past month. (PubMed)
  • Another U.S. survey found about 58% of Americans say they’ve watched pornography at some point; about 27% say they did in the past month. (Institute for Family Studies)
  • For men: A 2024 study by Barna Group reported 78% of men (ages 13-65) say they consume pornography to some extent. (Covenant Eyes)
  • For women: Usage is lower and more varied, but one summary gives a range of roughly 30-90% prevalence of use in different studies for women. (SpringerLink)
Frequency of Use
  • In one study (men aged 16-24): about 17.2% used pornography daily or almost daily, and 24.7% used it “often” (though “often” was defined differently in the study). (ScienceDirect)
  • From the Barna data: For men in the U.S. ages 13-65: Daily use ~15%, Weekly ~27%, Once or twice per month~15%. (Covenant Eyes)
  • Among couples surveyed in the U.S.: Men under 30 reported daily viewing at 17.3%, vs men over 30 at 6.9%. (Wheatley Institute)
Relationship Status & Use Patterns
  • In a U.S. couple-survey:
    • Among married men, ~25% reported no pornography use in the past year; among married women ~51% reported no use. (Wheatley Institute)
    • The gap in weekly or more frequent porn use: married men ~19.6% vs married women ~2.9% in one study. (Wheatley Institute)
Age & Generational Trends
  • Younger adults show higher prevalence. For example: Use among men aged 30-49: ~57% reported watching in the past month; for men younger than 25 in one dataset: higher percentages. (Institute for Family Studies)
  • Usage tends to decline with age in many studies, though older groups still report non-trivial use. (SpringerLink)
Important Caveats
  • These are self-report surveys, which tend to under-report for stigmatized behaviors and vary widely in definition (what counts as “use”? once vs regular?).
  • There’s wide variation in definitions of “frequent use,” “regular use,” “problematic use” — which complicates comparisons.
  • Many studies focus on video porn only; some include pictures, written erotica, other modalities. (PubMed)
  • Samples may not be fully representative (e.g., online panels, MTurk samples, young adult focus).
  • Cultural/context differences: patterns in the U.S may differ from other countries.

Porn Use - Prevalence, Frequency & Time (Selected Studies)

Country/Scope & Year (fielded)
Sample
What was measured
​Headline numbers
Great Britain (2022)
4,043 adults
​Ever-use & frequency
Men: 76% ever; 36% at least weekly (13% daily/most days). Women: 53% ever; 4% at least weekly. (YouGov)
​
Sweden
​(2017 -2021)
14,135 (16–84)
Weekly/daily frequency by age & sex
Men: 68.7% use; 16–24 y/o men: 17.2% daily/almost daily, 24.7% 3–5×/wk. Women: 27% use; 16–24 y/o women: 1.2% daily/almost daily. Use declines with age. (PubMed)
U.S. adults
(2020)
1,392 (18–73)
Past-month prevalence (all modalities)
Men: 91.5% past-month; Women: 60.2% past-month. (Convenience sample; not nationally representative.) (PubMed)
International (42 countries, 2021–22; Addiction 2024)
80k (adults)
Problematic porn use (PPU) risk
Estimated 3.2–16.6% across countries (varies by gender/orientation). Only a subset meet PPU thresholds. (SAIL Lab)
U.K. time-spent (May 2024)
U.K. online adults
Time on adult sites per user (month)
Men who visited: avg 1h 44m in May; Women: 1h 00m. Reach: 43% of online men vs 16% of online women that month. (www.ofcom.org.uk)
U.S. couples
(2020–21)
National couple survey
Hidden use & frequency by marital status
Married men: ~20% weekly+; married women: ~3% weekly+. 1 in 4 men report hiding use; 1 in 3 women worry about impact. (Wheatley Institute)
Australia youth (2024)
1,985 (ages 15–20)
Ever-exposed & frequency
Ever-seen: 86% males, 69% females; boys more frequent viewers. (Nationally representative youth sample.) (ScienceDirect)
Teens
​(U.S., 2023)
1,358 (13–17)
​Ever-seen; age of first exposure; regularity
73% have seen online porn; 54% saw it by age 13; many weekly among intentional viewers. (Common Sense Media)
Session length
(2023–25)
Global traffic panels
Avg time/visit on Pornhub
Multiple industry trackers put ~10–11 min/visit (varies by source & period). Treat as ballpark, not gold-standard. (Reboot Online)

Most Popular Categories & Trends

  • According to Pornhub’s “2023 Year in Review”, globally the top three categories were: Anal, Brazilian, and Transgender. (Scribd)
  • In many country-specific breakdowns:
    • In the U.S., the category “Ebony” was reported as the most-watched category. (New York Post)
    • In Australia in 2023: top categories were Lesbian, followed by Anal, then Japanese. (Scribd)
    • Among women viewers, globally, the “Lesbian” category has frequently been the most searched or most watched by female users (even if they’re viewing straight-oriented sites) according to Pornhub gender data. (Wikipedia)
  • Search-term trends showed large increases for categories such as “MILF” (+69% in 2023) and “Mature” (+77%) worldwide. (102.9 WMGK)

Interpretation of the Data
  • “Anal” appears across many reports as a top category — suggesting strong global interest.
  • “Lesbian” is especially prominent in female user statistics, suggesting gender differences in category preference.
  • “Transgender”, “Brazilian”, “Japanese”, “Ebony” etc appear as regionally strong categories — showing that locale, culture, and ethnicity tags are important in consumption.
  • Trending increases (MILF, Mature, etc) indicate evolving interest over time, rather than static preferences.
  • Because the data comes from a single major platform (or aggregated from large platforms), it may reflect what that platform emphasizes / promotes more than the entirety of porn consumption globally.

Important Caveats
  • Category definitions vary (what “Anal” includes, what “Mature” means, etc) and platforms choose their own labels.
  • The data is mostly searches or views on one site (or a subset of users) — not necessarily representative of all porn consumption.
  • User motivations vary (boredom, novelty-seeking, relationship context, etc) and frequency/time matter a lot for impact; category alone doesn’t tell the full story.
  • Regional differences are large: what’s top in one country may not be in another.
  • Because of secrecy, shame, or social desirability, self-report surveys may under-capture some categories or usage types.
Global Top Categories (2023)
  1. “Lesbian” — ranked #1 globally. (Scribd)
  2. “Ebony” — ranked #2 globally. (Scribd)
  3. “Anal” — ranked #3 globally. (Scribd)
  4. “MILF / Mature” — large year-on-year growth (~+77% for “mature” globally) and high ranking. (102.9 WMGK)
  5. “Transgender” — a rapidly growing category (e.g., +75% growth) and among top 10 globally. (SAGE Journals)
  6. “Japanese / Hentai / Asian” — regionally strong; “Japanese” often in top 3 in countries like Australia & Japan. (Scribd)
  7. “Threesome” — appears in many country lists as #3 or in top 5. (Scribd)
  8. “Mature / Older / Cougar” — growing interest globally; often ranked among top 5–7. (102.9 WMGK)
  9. “Latina / Brazilian / Local Ethnic” — strong regional variation, e.g., Brazil #2 “Brazilian”. (Scribd)
  10. “Amateur / Reality” — less often cited as top-3 globally, but shows up in many regional reports as trending. (ZipDo)

🌍 Regional Variations (selected examples)
  • Australia (2023): Top categories: “Lesbian” #1, “Anal” #2, “Japanese” #3. (Scribd)
  • Brazil (2023): Top categories: “Anal” #1, “Brazilian” #2, “Transgender” #3. (Scribd)
  • Italy (2023): Top categories: “Mature” #1, “Transgender” #2, “Lesbian” #3. (Scribd)
  • Netherlands (2023): Top: “Anal” #1, “Lesbian” #2, “MILF” #3. (Scribd)