"Not Once in the Past Year"... One in Three Adults in Seoul Are 'Sexless'

According to the "2021 Study on the Sexual Life of Seoul Residents," conducted from January to May on 2,182 men and women aged 19 and older living in Seoul, one in three adults responded that they "had not had sexual intercourse in the past year."
[Photo by Getty Images Bank]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] A study has revealed that one in three adults living in Seoul did not have sexual intercourse in the past year.

According to the results of the "2021 Sexual Life Study of Seoul Residents" released on the 2nd, conducted by Professor Yusik Yeom of Yonsei University's Department of Sociology and Professor Junyong Choi of Yonsei University College of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine, 36% of respondents answered that they had not engaged in sexual intercourse in the past year. This figure is more than three times higher than the 11% of respondents who gave the same answer in a survey conducted by Pfizer in the United States in 2000, marking a significant increase over about 20 years.

Photo of the research results titled 'Sexual Life of Seoul Residents in 2021'

The survey was conducted online from January to May among 2,182 men and women aged 19 and older residing in Seoul. By gender, 43% of women and 29% of men reported not having sexual intercourse in the past year. When asked about the reasons, 24% of women answered "lack of interest," whereas 15% of men said "interested but unable to find a partner," which was the highest response rate among men. The research team analyzed this by stating, "This can be attributed to trends such as remaining unmarried, low birth rates, and the improvement of women's social status."

Among those who reported not having sexual intercourse in the past year, 15% were voluntarily abstinent, while 21% were involuntarily abstinent due to economic problems or health reasons. The research team noted, "Both men and women in the lower socioeconomic classes had higher rates of abstinence compared to the middle and upper classes. This was also true for those who could not find a partner and thus did not have sexual intercourse." They also interpreted, "There was no clear change before and after COVID-19 in this study, and trends such as remaining unmarried and feminism appear to be more significant variables."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.