Sex Survey Says Brits Are More Adventurous

British men and women are having increasingly adventurous sex, with more partners, well into old age, according to the most comprehensive ever survey of its kind.

The study of 15,000 people's sexual behaviour also reveals the nation is more tolerant of same-sex experiences, but less forgiving of sex outside marriage.

The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles was first carried out in 1990 and has been repeated every 10 years.

Results published in The Lancet medical journal show that of those aged 16-24, 31% of men and 29% of women had sex before the age of 16.

That is unchanged from the last survey in the year 2000.

At the other end of the demographic spectrum, the survey shows pensioners are also having sex. According to the figures, 60% of men and 42% of women aged 65-74 reported having at least one opposite sex sexual partner in the previous year.

Lead author Dr Cath Mercer, from University College London, said: "As men and women are living longer, have healthier lives and continue to have active sex lives well beyond their reproductive years, we need to view sexual health and wellbeing as an issue of lifelong importance."

The anonymous questionnaire shows people are having less sex on average than they used to.

Compared with the last survey in 2000, the frequency of sex has fallen from just over six times a month to just under five.

This is partly because fewer people are married or cohabiting, but even those who live with their partner are having less sex, possibly because of pressures caused by the recession.

The results show people are becoming more experimental with their sexual practices, at all ages.

And women are closing the gap on men in the number of sexual partners they have.

Women aged 16-44 now have an average of 7.7 partners, compared with 3.7 in 1990. Men now have 11.7, up from 8.6 in the last survey.

There has been a small increase in men who have ever had a same-sex partner - up from 3.6% to 4.8%.

But there has been a big rise in women having a same-sex partner, up from 1.8% to 7.9%.

Professor Kaye Wellings, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who also contributed to the report, said: "The change in women's behaviour across the three surveys has been remarkable.

"In some areas of sexual behaviour we have seen a narrowing of the gender gap, but in others we have seen women overtaking men in the diversity of their behaviour.

"These trends need to be seen against the backdrop of the profound changes in the position of women in society, the norms governing their lifestyles and media representations of female sexuality."

The survey shows 20% of men see "nothing wrong" in a one-night stand, a figure that is unchanged from the 1990 survey. For women, the figure has risen from 5.4% to 13%.

The proportion of men disapproving of sex outside marriage has increased from 45% to 63%. For women it has risen from 53% to 70%.

The survey, the third in the series, was conducted between September 2010 and August 2012.