Money worries and the distractions of social media mean people are having sex less frequently, researchers say.
A once-a-decade poll of 15,000 Britons found those aged 16-44 were having sex fewer than five times a month。
The figure compared with more than six times a month on the last two occasions when the official National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles was carried out, in 1990-91 and 1999-2001.
The study's authors say modern life may be having an impact on libidos。
Dr Cath Mercer, from University College London, said: "People are worried about their jobs, worried about money. They are not in the mood for sex。
"But we also think modern technologies are behind the trend too. People have tablets and smartphones and they are taking them into the bedroom, using Twitter and Facebook, answering emails."
She also said the survey suggested that couples aged 16 to 44 may be using online porn as a substitute for sex。
Men polled in 2010 to 2012 reported having sex 4.9 times a month and women 4.8. In both previous surveys the averages were more than six for both sexes both times。
The survey carried out by NatCen Social Research and analysed by researchers from University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine also asked older people about their sex lives。
It found 42% of women and 60% of men aged 65 to 74 had had sex in the past year。
Nonetheless, they were the age groups having the least sex - 2.3 times a month for men and 1.4 for women。
Among men, the 25-to-34 age group were having the most sex - 5.4 times a month - and for women it was the 16-to-24 age group, 5.8 times。
The latest survey, which is carried out every 10 years, also shows the age at which people start having sex is lower in the younger age groups。
The average age for the under-25s is 16 compared with 19 for men and 18 for women in the 65-to-74 age group。
Among other findings:
One in six pregnancies in the UK is unplanned。
About half of men and women have had a recent sexual problem, but only a 10th of those interviewed were distressed or worried about their sex lives。
Lack of interest in sex is one of the most commonly reported problems, and one not confined to women - around 15% of men had experienced loss of libido。
Since the last survey in 2000 people have become more accepting of same-sex relationships but less tolerant of cheating spouses. For more about how attitudes have changed read more here。
The average woman aged under 44 said they had had 7.7 partners over their lifetime, while for men it was 11.7.
Some 3.6% of men had paid for sex in the last five years. Hardly any women had。
Genevieve Edwards, from Marie Stopes International, said: "A key insight from the survey is that people are having sex earlier and having children later, which means that, on average, women in Britain spend about 30 years of their life needing to avert an unplanned pregnancy, yet many are not being informed about or offered the full range of services。
"Long-acting contraceptives, for example, can be extremely effective and convenient but too many are never offered the choice."
But the poll - the full details of which have been reported in the Lancet - also revealed the extent to which people are forced to have sex against their will。
One in 10 women and one in 70 men said they had experienced it。
However, fewer than half had told anyone about it and even fewer (13% of women and 8% of men) had reported the crime to the police。
11月26日發(fā)布的一項調(diào)查研究全面展現(xiàn)了過去10年來英國人的性生活狀況。調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，英國人現(xiàn)在擔(dān)心工作，關(guān)注社交媒體，性生活相應(yīng)減少。另外，有40%的女性曾被迫和伴侶發(fā)生性行為。
2010年9月至2012年8月間，英國倫敦學(xué)院大學(xué)、國家社會研究中心、以及倫敦衛(wèi)生和熱帶醫(yī)藥學(xué)院聯(lián)合對1.5萬多名16歲至74歲的英國民眾進行《全國性態(tài)度和生活方式調(diào)查》(Nastal)，得出上述結(jié)論。該調(diào)查如今已經(jīng)進行到第三屆，前兩屆分別是1990年2000年。
據(jù)英國廣播公司報道，調(diào)查顯示，年齡在16歲至44歲之間的英國人每個月性生活不到5次，低于前兩屆的6次以上。倫敦學(xué)院大學(xué)的卡斯•默瑟博士說：“人們擔(dān)心工作擔(dān)心錢，沒心情做愛。我們覺得現(xiàn)代科技也有影響。大家都有平板電腦和智能手機，還把它們帶進臥室，瀏覽社交網(wǎng)站，回復(fù)電子郵件。”默瑟還透露說，人們可能瀏覽色情網(wǎng)頁，補充真實的性生活。
男性在25歲至34歲間的性生活最為豐富，每個月平均5.4次;女性在16歲至24歲間最多，為5.8次。在65歲到74歲年齡段中，男女每個月性行為次數(shù)分別為2.3次和1.4次。大約有一半受訪者近期在性生活方面遇到問題，但并不擔(dān)心。男性和女性都存在性欲不足的情況。另外，調(diào)查之前5年內(nèi)，有3.6%的男性曾花錢買春，女性則幾乎沒有。
英國《獨立報》報道，調(diào)查顯示1.5萬名女性受訪者中有40%表示曾被迫和前任或現(xiàn)任伴侶發(fā)生性關(guān)系，這些受害者的平均年齡為18歲。相對而言，只有73名男性在“13歲以后被迫與他人發(fā)生性關(guān)系”。研究人員溫迪•麥克道爾認為，被迫性行為已經(jīng)“正常化”，它的極端形式就是強奸。
倫敦衛(wèi)生和熱帶醫(yī)藥學(xué)院的凱•韋林斯教授說：“Nastal等研究表明，民眾的性行為在過去一個世紀(jì)發(fā)生了深遠變化。初次性體驗提前，性生活活躍的長者數(shù)量增加，男女之間差距縮小，而性行為和生育之間的聯(lián)系有所減弱。我們要在研究、臨床實踐和教育方面應(yīng)對這些變化。我們需要換個視角看待性。性健康不僅僅代表不生病，還要給人帶來愉快、安全、不受脅迫的性體驗。”
