Porn Statistics [2023]: How Many People REALLY Watch Porn?

We combed through porn facts, and here’s what we got on how many people watch porn, what they like to watch, how long they spend doing it, and more! Read on:

We’ve all experienced pornography in one form or another, but what percentage of people are actually frequent porn users? What are they watching?

Yes, your partner probably watches porn. Or, if they’re female, they might also be reading it.

Here’s the best data we could find on porn use:

Heterosexual participants from the United States, Germany, South Korea, and Taiwan say they watch porn from once a month to a few times a month according to a 2022 study.
American adults mostly watch porn online.
Around 6 in 10 Americans report watching porn at least once in their lives. More than 1 in 4 participants have watched porn in the past month from the 2022 research.
Men are four times more likely than women to have watched porn in the last month.
One study found that 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women reported using porn in the past month.
About 4% of all websites are porn sites.
Searches for the term “bromance” on Pornhub increased 288% in 2021.
Women are more likely than men to read erotica (written porn).
60% of all the world’s porn sites – an estimated 428 million pages across 4.2 million sites – are hosted in the U.S., and 66% of those are hosted in California.
Of all U.S. states, Americans in Wyoming spend the longest average amount of time on Pornhub – 11 minutes and 3 seconds.
The most searched porn term in 2021 was Hentai.
The most searched pornstar on Pornhub in 2021 was Lana Rhoades. The second-place pornstar was Abella Danger.

Table of Contents

Global Porn Statistics

First thing’s first – let’s get some context. There are some wild claims out there about how much of the internet is porn, how it affects people, how many people watch it, etc.

We sifted through the crap to bring you the most accurate facts we could find.

Pornhub, XVideos, and XNXX are the world’s top 3 porn sites and have a combined total of over 5.81 billion site visits per month.
Every minute, the top 3 porn sites receive 134,491 visits. Web traffic monitoring tools suggest that users spend an average of 18 minutes on the sites.
In 2018, there were 109,012,068,000 videos watched on Pornhub – more than 14 videos per person on the planet.
Over 5,824,699,200 hours of porn were watched on Pornhub in 2018. That’s nearly 665 centuries of content on one site in just one year.
One sex survey in Hong Kong found that over 75% of respondents had seen porn at age 15 or younger, and 15% had seen it before age 9.
In 2018, Pornhub saw 63,992 new visitors per minute and 33.5 billion total visitors that year.
Despite some wild estimates, the best studies show that only 4% of the internet is made up of porn websites.
35% of all internet downloads are porn-related
34% of internet users have been involuntarily exposed to porn through pop-ups, ads, or misdirected links.

60% of all the world’s porn sites – an estimated 428 million pages across 4.2 million sites – are hosted in the U.S., and 66% of those are hosted in California.
26% of all porn sites are hosted in the Netherlands.
One study of over 1,000 students ages 14 to 18 in the U.K. found that:
- 55% said they had viewed porn.
- 44% said they viewed porn more than once.
- The average age a teenager first saw porn was 13 years old; 29% did so on accident or from peer pressure.
- 13% said they viewed porn daily.

Sources: Statista, Fight the New Drug, South China Morning Post, Pornhub, Statista, Statista, Herts Live

How Many People Watch Porn?

So how many people watch porn? Numbers vary, but it’s probably most men and a majority of women – and these percentages are increasing.

One study found that a recent porn sesh increases the likelihood of lying, so the numbers might be even higher than we think.

No one’s above the temptation of sweet sexual release – not even church pastors. Here’s what we found:

In a 2022 study, researchers gathered data from heterosexual participants from the United States, Germany, Korea and Taiwan:
- United States
  - Women: 3.95
  - Men: 5.72
  - Total: 4.92
- Taiwan
  - Women: 4.10
  - Men 6:12
  - Total: 5.36
- Korea
  - Women: 3.86
  - Men: 6.12
  - Total: 5.36
- Germany
  - Women: 2.77
  - Men: 6.06
  - Total: 5.52
- Total
  - TotalWomen: 4.19
  - Men: 5.32
  - Total: 4.90
This “Pornography Use Frequency” data is measured from 1-8: (1)Never, (2) Less than once a year, (3) A few times a year, (4) Once a month, (5) A few times a month, (6) 1-2 days a week, (7) 3-5 days a week, (8) Daily or almost daily.
Findings from a 2022 study indicate that the most common engagement out of all forms of sextech (internet-based applications, platforms, or devices) among American adults is “online pornography.” Here’s a breakdown:
- Online pornography: 50%
- Sexting: 29%
- Visiting camming sites: 18%
- Playing sexually explicit video games: 13%
Around 6 in 10 (58%) of Americans report having watched pornography at some point in their lives. More than 1 in 4 (27%) have watched porn in the past month.
Men are four times more likely than women to have watched porn in the previous month (44% vs. 11%, respectively).
Percentage of men who reveal when they last watched pornography:
- 18-29 years old
  - In the past month: 44%
  - In the past year: 12%
  - More than a year ago: 18%
  - Never: 25%
- 30-49 years old
  - In the past month: 57%
  - In the past year: 12%
  - More than a year ago: 16%
  - Never: 12%
- 50-64 years old
  - In the past month: 44%
  - In the past year: 18%
  - More than a year ago: 19%
  - Never: 18%
- 65 and older
  - In the past month: 26%
  - In the past year: 16%
  - More than a year ago: 25%
  - Never: 31%
One study found that 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women had viewed porn in the past month.
Most young people are exposed to porn by the age of 13.
One study found that of U.S. teens aged 14 to 18, 84.4% of males and 47% of females have viewed pornography.
A study of the Polish population from 2004 to 2006, using objective data excluding cell phone use and private browsing, had the following results:
- From 2004 to 2016, the percentage of the Polish population who were internet users increased from 25% to 66%.
- In the same period, the percentage of the Polish population who viewed porn from a computer without using private browsing (e.g., incognito mode) increased from 8% to 24%.
- In 2004, 30% of Polish internet users viewed pornography. In 2016, this number increased to 36% (on a computer, without private browsing).
- Male internet users who viewed porn (on a computer, without private browsing) increased from 38% to 49%, while females only increased from 21% to 24%.
As many as 12 million Americans suffer from sex addiction, which often manifests in obsessive porn use.

One U.S. study found that 44% of adults said that they never view porn:
- 24% said they rarely view it.
- 22% said occasionally.
- 6% said frequently.
- 4% said very frequently.
- However, this same study found that recently viewing pornography increases the likelihood of lying – so percentages of frequent porn viewers may be much higher.
1 in 5 youth pastors and 1 in 7 senior pastors in the U.S. are regular porn users – that’s over 50,000 church leaders.
Every second:
- 28,258 people are watching porn online.
- $3,075.64 are being spent on internet porn.
- 372 people type the word “adult” into a search engine.
Every day:
- 37 porn videos are made in the U.S.
- 2.5 billion emails containing porn are sent or received.
- 6.8 million search queries related to porn (25% of all internet searches) are generated.

General Porn Statistics:
- Roughly 200,000 Americans are considered porn addicts.
- An estimated 40 million Americans visit porn sites regularly.
- 35% of all internet downloads are related to pornography.
- One-third of porn viewers are women.

Sources: Journal of Sex Research, Fight the New Drug, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Seattle Times, Journal of Business Ethics, Covenant Eyes, Webroot, Sexuality & Culture, The Journal of Sex Research, Survey Center on American Life

What Porn Are People Watching?

Surprise, surprise, most people watch porn. What are they watching, though?

The best data comes from one of the world’s most popular porn sites, Pornhub. Pornhub collects anonymous data from its users and posts the results each year to show how people’s sexual desires fluctuate.

Women are more likely than men to consume written pornography, even though videos are the most popular form of porn.
The most searched pornstar on Pornhub in 2021 was Lana Rhoades, followed closely by Abella Danger.

The following is a list of the most popular search terms on the website Pornhub in 2021:
- 1. Hentai – In Japanese, hentai can refer to any fetish. Worldwide, it mostly refers to anime (a Japanese TV animation style) porn. Pornhub has hundreds of thousands of hentai videos.
- 2. Romance – In 2021, searches containing “romance” and “romantic” more than doubled in popularity. Searches for “passionate” also increased by 139%. For gay users, the term “bromance” increased by 288%.
- 3. Group Sex – Searches for the term “threesome” increased by 40% worldwide, becoming the 6th most popular search in the U.S. and 4th most popular for women. The terms “FFM,” “MMF,” and “orgy” all increased by over 70%.
- 4. Fitness – 2021 saw a 56% rise in fitness-related searches. Porn involving “yoga,” “running,” “exercise,” and “gym” all saw search increases throughout the year.
- 5. Swapping – The terms “swap” and “swapping” increased 170%. “Swinger” and “swinging” trended especially in the spring and summer and saw a 127% increase.
- 6. Challenge – Referring to social media “challenges,” challenge terms such as “no nut November,” “try not to cum,” “jerk off challenge,” and “buss it” were all popular in 2021.
- 7. Transgender – Searches for “trans” and “transgender” have increased as society becomes more aware and more tolerant of gender and sexual minorities.
- 8. Goth – Searches for “goth” grew 283% in 2021.
- 9. Roommate – Searches for terms like “roommate,” “gay roommate,” “lesbian roommate,” “straight roommate,” “horny roommate,” etc., increased by 136%.
- 10. How to… – Oddly enough, searches with the phrase “how to” increased by 244%, and related content increased to over 200,000 videos.

Sources: Journal of Sex Research, Pornhub

How Much Time Does the Average Person Spend Watching Porn?

While some people can spend hours browsing naughty content, the average person spends around 10 minutes getting themselves off.

Here’s Pornhub’s data on traffic by country and the average times people spend on their site.

Oh, and we threw in some interesting tidbits on porn use at work. Come on, guys, just wait until you get home.

These 20 countries make up 79% of Pornhub’s daily traffic:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Japan
- France
- Italy
- Mexico
- Canada
- Germany
- Philippines
- Brazil
- Spain
- Australia
- Poland
- Ukraine
- Netherlands
- Argentina
- Colombia
- Russia
- Sweden
- Chile

Of those top 20 countries, these are the average times users spend on the site:
- Time spent per visit by country:
  - Philippines – 11 min 31 sec
  - Japan – 10 min 3 sec
  - France – 10 min 2 sec
  - Netherlands – 9 min 59 sec
  - Ukraine – 9 min 53 sex
  - United Kingdom – 9 min 52 sec
  - Poland – 9 min 51 sec
  - Germany – 9 min 49 sec
  - Canada – 9 min 48 sec
  - United States – 9 min 44 sec
  - Italy – 9 min 43 sec
  - Argentina – 9 min 40 sec
  - Australia – 9 min 32 sec
  - Brazil – 9 min 26 sec
  - Colombia – 9 min 20 sec
  - Mexico – 9 min 16 sec
  - Spain – 9 min 9 sec
  - Chile – 9 min 7 sec
  - Sweden 9 min 4 sec
  - Russia – 8 min 13 sec

In the U.S., the average visit lasts 9 minutes and 44 seconds. However, this varies by state:
- States with the longest visits:
  - Wyoming – 11 min 3 sec
  - Mississippi – 10 min 51 sec
  - Alabama – 10 min 46 sec
  - Arkansas – 10 min 40 sec
  - Louisiana – 10 min 39 sec
  - South Carolina – 10 min 35 sec
  - Georgia – 10 min 35 sec
  - Tennessee – 10 min 34 sec
  - Missouri – 10 min 29 sec
  - West Virginia – 10 min 27 sec
- States with the shortest visits:
  - Colorado – 8 min 51 sec
  - California – 9 min 24 sec
  - Utah – 9 min 34 sec
  - Massachusetts – 9 min 38 sec
  - New York – 9 min 57 sec
  - Connecticut – 9 min 57 sec
  - Nebraska – 9 min 58 sec
  - Kansas – 9 min 58 sec
Some sources estimate that 70% of internet porn traffic occurs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
- One survey found that almost 60% of respondents view pornography at work.
- Some estimates put the value of lost productivity due to porn use in U.S. companies as high as $16.9 billion annually.

Sources: Pornhub, Journal of Business Ethics

Conclusion

Pornography use affects just about everyone, but we’re still afraid to talk about it. Unfortunately, this makes data collection a nightmare because so many people are afraid to admit that they use the internet for sexual release.

For this reason, self-reported surveys claim the percentage of internet porn users is as low as 54% or as high as nearly 92%. These numbers can bring us close to the truth, but it’s important to consider survey flaws or participants’ false responses.

The most objective study we found only covered Poland’s population, revealing that nearly half of men and a quarter of women view porn. These numbers only account for those brazen enough to look at porn without at least putting their browser in Incognito Mode.

On average, people spend about ten minutes looking at porn, but this varies greatly from person to person or session to session. Pornhub’s data shows us that most people are looking for hentai or Lana Rhoades (or Lana Rhoades hentai?), but without data from other sites, it’s hard to get wholly representative data.

Really though, we know most (if not all) people we’ve met use porn at least sometimes – and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sexuality is a natural part of the human condition, and the more we talk about it, the closer we get to understanding it completely.

For more interesting sex studies and statistics, head over to our guide here.