How Many People Watch Porn? Stats and Facts

Have you ever thought about how many people across the world are actually watching porn right now? What about the astounding statistics behind its massive presence on the internet - like how Pornhub alone hosts over 11 petabytes (over 11 million gigabytes) of content? Just how long would it take to watch all of that?

We've all heard that pornography is one of the most consumed forms of media in our current digital age, but just how popular is it? Well, we've raked through tons of data to create this article examining the scale of pornography's reach and its influence on society.

We'll cover global viewer demographics, explore key differences across genders, age groups, and regions, and reveal some surprising stats that show just how much of a role pornography plays in our everyday lives.

How Many People Are Watching?

The numbers paint a clear picture: internet pornography use in the U.S. is high. As many as 58% of Americans - nearly six in ten people - report that they have watched pornography at some point in their lives. That's around 200 million Americans, based on the latest population statistics. In fact, more than one in four of us has watched porn in the last month.

Porn, it seems, is becoming a mainstay in many people's media consumption - with 1 out 3 Americans searching for online pornography at least once a month. But that's just scratching the surface.

Data from other Western countries reveals the true global scale of porn consumption.

• Between 70-94% of adults in Australia have watched pornography in their lifetime.
• Between 70%-88% of adults in Canada have viewed pornography.
• Between 53% and 76% of adults in Britain have reported viewing pornography.
• Between 70% and up to 94% of adults in Europe have stated that they have viewed pornography.

The U.S. vs. The World

But how does America stack up when compared to the rest of the wider world? Well, the data shows that when it comes to porn consumption, no other country even comes close. The U.S. has actually been the top consumer of porn for the last decade - an achievement that may have something to do with it being the home of over 60% of all pornographic websites.

Second to the U.S. in porn consumption is the Philippines, closely followed by France, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Source: Statista.com

Regional Porn Preferences

Curious about how much porn your neighbors consume? Here are some statistics about statewide porn consumption:

1. Alaskans are the most dedicated pornography viewers, spending an average of 11 minutes and 4 seconds watching porn per visit.
2. The national average isn't too far behind at 10 minutes and 37 seconds.
3. The people down in Louisiana are keeping things quick and efficient at just 9 minutes and 18 seconds per visit - the shortest duration in the nation.
4. 2023 saw a huge uptick in Washington's porn consumption, with each visit averaging 66 seconds longer than before.
5. On the flip side, Rhode Island's viewing time fell the most - down by 64 seconds.

The Truth About the Porn Gap

It may come as no surprise to learn that, on average, men watch more porn than women. However, if you're picturing an enormous "porn gap" (as the experts call it), new research might make you think again.

While men are four times more likely to report having watched porn in the past month - 44% of men compared to just 11% of women - the demographics of visitors to the top four pornography sites tell a different story.

Using data from two of the top four porn sites, we can adjust current demographic estimates to reveal that women make up over 30% of their worldwide audience - as high as 36% in some cases. That's a figure that's climbed over 12% in the last 8 years, proving that women's pornography usage is increasing as society becomes more open-minded.

A Generational Divide

Looking at age-specific data, it's clear that more people are watching porn than ever before. The younger generations (both men and women) report higher pornography consumption than their elders.

Guys aged between 30-49 watch the most porn. Almost 60% admit to having viewed pornography within the last month, and over 40% say they have watched it in the past week. In comparison, only 26% of seniors (aged 65+) claim to have watched porn in the last month.

It's a similar report from the women's side - with 81% of female seniors stating they had never watched porn, in contrast to the 56% of younger American women who have.

Porn Consumption Over the Decades

Today, it is easier and more common than ever to view porn. The last 70 years have seen porn consumption increase significantly, rising from just 8% in 1950 to a peak of 79% in 2011.

In a survey from 2014, 87% of men and 28.5% of women aged 18 to 35 reported watching pornography at least once a week - a statistic that aligned with the demographics on popular porn sites back then.

If we take this data and compare it with the most recent data on viewer demographics, we can estimate that, nowadays, around 30-35% of women aged 18 to 35 may watch pornography on a weekly basis.

A more recent study estimated that over 60% of women (aged 18-73) had read or watched porn within the last month, although it also found that pornography use decreases steadily with age - meaning that as people get older, they are less likely to watch porn.

It's a finding that's backed up by Pornhub's age demographics:

While younger and middle-aged viewers engage with pornography more often, the older generations tend to watch it significantly less.

The Scale of Online Porn Consumption

If you're trying to wrap your head around the scale of porn consumption, this might help. The world's top three porn sites (XVideos, Pornhub, and SpankBang) receive a massive 5.81 billion visits per month. To put that in perspective, that's around 134 million visits every single day - and that's just on those three websites.

That's more than 2000 new sessions starting every second - a number that many streaming sites will envy. In the U.S., these three websites actually see more traffic than Amazon, Yahoo, Netflix, and even TikTok.

Porn Is More Popular Than Movies

Here are five facts that might make your head spin:

• The world's most popular pornography site, Pornhub, regularly attracts hundreds of millions more visits than major everyday websites (Amazon, Netflix, etc.)
• Porn websites have lower bounce rates (the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing just one page) than non-pornographic websites.
• The average person spends about 18 minutes on the top three sites per visit.
• These sites average around 134,500 new website visits every minute*.*
• This means that approximately 2.4 million people are using just the top three porn sites every minute.

That's a lot of real estate, especially once you factor in that 12% of the internet is made up of websites featuring adult content. There are over 1 billion websites on the internet, which means millions of websites are dedicated to porn.

It's no surprise, then, that around 25% of search engine requests and 35% of all internet downloads are pornography-related.

Business or Pleasure?

One of the more surprising statistics we've come across is that 70% of internet traffic to pornography websites occurs between 9 am and 5 pm. That's right - people are making sure to fit in some me-time while they're hard at work.

The rise of remote work is sure to have contributed to this phenomenon, but a massive part of it is thanks to the presence of personal devices. Mobile devices accounted for a colossal 91.3% of all traffic to Pornhub last year, with similar figures for other leading sites.

People's favorite time to watch porn? Either between noon and 1 pm or during the late evening - particularly between 11 pm and midnight. Saturday is the least popular day of the week to watch porn (perhaps because people spend their weekends socializing), while Monday is the most popular.

It's clear that convenience and accessibility are two major driving forces behind people's porn consumption, but lifestyle choices also play a key role.

When Does Porn Become a Problem?

With Pornhub alone (remember that's one adult website out of millions) reporting more than 2 billion visits in a single month in 2023, it's clear there's a huge demand for pornography. But when does it become too much?

The last few decades have seen a massive increase in the availability and 24/7 access to pornographic materials globally, but for some, watching porn has become an addiction.

• In a recent U.S. survey, around 11% of men and 3% of women reported they felt addicted to porn.
• A global study of 80,000 adults from over 40 countries suggests that around 3% of the population could be addicted to pornography - around 240 million people.
• A U.S. survey from late 2022 revealed that around 60% of respondents reported having a habit of watching porn, while 33% said they did not. The rest preferred not to say.

Studies on addiction show that even casual use of something can eventually create a dependency - so this is a habit that could cause issues down the road.

The Youth Impact

Studies suggest that younger people are more susceptible to porn's addictive qualities, with most children reporting their first exposure to porn by age 13.

Among teens, 84% of males and 57% of females aged 14-18 say they have viewed pornography, a pattern that, for some, can set the stage for dependency as they age.

Pornography can affect how people view sex and intimacy and cause problems in the bedroom, and it's especially true for those who access it so early in life. In fact, one study found that 1 in 4 young adults (18-25) found porn to be the most helpful source to learn how to have sex - despite how unrealistic and potentially harmful it can be.

How Big Is The Porn Industry?

The pornography industry is a behemoth valued at just under 288 billion dollars in 2023. In the U.S., it brings in more money than Hollywood does per year, and there are no signs of it slowing down.

Experts forecast that by 2034, it will be worth an eye-popping $706.2 billion. The adult industry is already one of the world's most profitable sectors, and the next decade looks to cement it firmly in place.

But it's not just massive in terms of money - have you ever thought about its presence in terms of sheer data alone? For this we'll have to go back in time a little for the most recent detailed data on the industry.

Image Source: Pornhub 2109 Year In Review

In 2019 Pornhub reported that over 12,500 gigabytes of adult content were uploaded to its site every single minute. Back then, Pornhub claimed to host 11 petabytes (11 million gigabytes) of porn - nowadays, it could be double or even triple that amount.

In 2019 Pornhub's total watch time was immense - over 5.8 billion hours. That's the equivalent of over 6649 centuries worth (about 665,000 years) of adult material watched in a single year - on just one out of a million websites.

Summary

The pornography industry has been a global mainstay for over 70 years - but its influence has never been more pronounced than it is nowadays. Advancements in technology and the rise of the internet have helped the porn industry turn into a powerhouse, and it's not letting up any time soon.

It's becoming increasingly normalized for women as well as men to watch porn, which is helping change attitudes about sex.

Its vast reach shows that there's a need for more discussions and in-depth data about viewership in order to properly understand its impact on people and society as a whole. With billions of website visits every month, porn has become deeply ingrained into our everyday lives - for better or worse.