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Among young adults in particular, virginity is common. Globally, 38% of adults 18 to 24 are virgins. Asia-Pacific countries have the highest concentration of young adult virgins (84% in Malaysia and Singapore, 78% in Indonesia, 53% in Thailand, 47% in the Philippines). Virginity is also quite common among adults 18 to 24 in the US, at 53%. After age 25, fewer global adults are virgins (18% of adults 25 to 29, 9% of adults in their thirties, 6% of adults in their forties).
For young adults, sex is hard to come by – at least in part because many live with their parents. Close to half of adults 18 to 24 are not dating anyone currently (44%), 30% have never been in a serious relationship and 32% have never had a casual fling. The fact that 55% live with their parents likely has an impact on their love lives. However, when they move out – for many, around age 24 — they tend to move in with a partner. Among adults 25 to 29, just 13% say they’ve never had a serious relationship.
Casual sex isn’t as common as it might seem. Among adults 18 to 29, 29% have had a one-night stand, 15% have hooked up with multiple people within the same time period, and 13% have had a sexual experience with someone from work.
Most people meet casual flings in person, but technology plays an increasing role in people’s sex lives. Among adults 18 to 29 who have had a casual fling, 93% met in person and 48% via an app or website. Interestingly, we found that 20% of men 18 to 29 have had a fling with someone they met at church! Young adults are more comfortable with digital sharing than their slightly older peers – 22% of adults 18 to 29 have sent a naked picture to someone, compared with 16% of adults 30 to 49.
Apps have led to casual flings for some – and to serious relationships for a few. Among adults 18 to 29 who have used dating or hook-up apps, 30% of men and 23% of women had casual flings. A lucky few found serious relationships — 19% of men and 10% of women.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American who ends up having penis-and-vaginal intercourse does so for the first time around the age of 17.
This age has something to do with how stable your family life is, peer pressure, personality and, according to a recent study, even your genes. But between 12-14 percent of adults aged 20-24 have never had sex. This number drops to around five percent for adults aged 25-29, and by age 44, only around 0.3 percent of adults report never having had the type of sex that could end in somebody getting pregnant. Keep in mind that these statistics are for Americans.
By contrast, in 2010, 25 percent of unmarried Japanese men over the age of 30 reported being virgins. The trend is so prevalent, there is now a term for late-in-life male virgins: yaramiso.
