One of the best ways to understand our diverse and shifting sexual world is by finding tangible ways to measure what is going on under the sheets. Although having an orgasm is by no means the only way to measure pleasure, as someone who’s had one or two, I can confidently state that it is highly associated with having a good time. As a result, by exploring female orgasm statistics, we can understand more about the pleasure women experience in different encounters and how that may shift as our culture and technology continue to develop.
- 18.4% of women can orgasm from sexual intercourse alone (no clit stimulation)
- 51-60% of women can orgasm when clitoral stimulations are added to vaginal sex.
- 90% of women orgasmed during encounters where anal sex was involved.
- 64% of women orgasmed during their last sexual encounter with a partner.
- 8% of women orgasmed while watching Virtual Reality (VR) porn.
- 22% of women orgasmed using a smart sex toy (Lovense, Kiiroo, etc.)
- 59% of women have faked an orgasm, and 12% of women aged 17-28 have never had an orgasm.
Table Of Contents
What is the Orgasm Gap?
The sad truth is that, overall, women have fewer orgasms than men. Part of the reason for this orgasmic gap is that we live in a culture that prioritizes male pleasure over female pleasure. Pornography focuses on male pleasure, showing significantly more blow jobs than cunnilingus and often showing women as a tool for male stimulation.
This pattern is also shown in medicine, where doctors didn’t even map the internal structure of the clitoris until the 1990s when a female doctor made it happen. This lack of knowledge is also reflected in our education regarding female pleasure.
Research shows that 37% of brits could not identify the clitoris on a diagram! The clitoris is a women’s MAIN source of pleasure; if we don’t know where it is, it is hard to imagine our ability to pleasure it properly. Also, 58% of people did not know what a urethra does, 47% didn’t know what the labia are, and 52% could not accurately define the vagina.
Faking Orgasms
The lack of pleasure-focused education may lead many women to feel pressure to experience orgasm during sexual encounters without giving them the tools to make that happen. As a result, 59% of women have faked an orgasm, while only 25% of men have faked an orgasm. Fortunately, research shows that 67 % of women who have faked orgasms before no longer fake them.
Orgasms without a Partner
Some women have difficulty experiencing orgasm. For example, one study found that 12% of women aged 17-28 have never had an orgasm. However, this number likely decreases throughout life. Indeed, research has found that when asking older women, 5-10% of women report never having an orgasm.
Although this number is slightly better, it still means that millions of women have never had an orgasm! On the other hand, men having trouble with orgasm during solo play is less common.
Women brought up not learning about their pleasure are less likely to explore their bodies and learn what type of stimulation feels good. Indeed, research shows that 80-92% of women who receive treatment for anorgasmia can eventually have an orgasm. So usually, most women can physiologically have an orgasm; they just haven’t been in the environment to prioritize and explore that pleasure.
I wanted to understand women’s pleasure routines and how technology may change that, so I created a Poll of 30 people who follow my Sex Education Instagram:
- The results showed that when engaging in self-pleasure with their hands, 87% of women have ever had an orgasm.
- However, interestingly, 93% of women have ever achieved orgasm with a toy, 3% had never orgasmed with a toy, and 3% were unsure.
Of course, this is a smaller non-randomized study, but I think it is fascinating that we are at a point where folks are achieving orgasms with technology, even when they aren’t able to with their hands! Perhaps if we gave every young woman a sex toy during sexual health class- the orgasm gap would be smaller.
A recent study of 1435 Canadian women found that 65% of women and nearly half of men own at least one sex toy. The results showed that of this group, during the period of the survey, 65.7% of non-binary folks, 52.9% of women, and 37% of men used sex toys for sexual satisfaction. In conjunction with the research above, it appears that this shift toward using sex toys leads women to achieve more pleasure.
Orgasms with a Partner
Surprise, surprise – women also have a lower orgasm rate than men when they are with partners. Disheartening research has found that 91% of men orgasmed during their last sexual encounter, whereas only 64% of women could say the same. (More on orgasm statistics for men in this article.)
Further, only 18.4% of women can orgasm from only vaginal intercourse. However, that number rises to 51-60% when clitoral stimulations are added to vaginal sex.
However, research shows that as relationship time increases, so does women’s ability to achieve orgasm in their sex life. For example, it was found that during their 3-5th hookup with a partner, women were 40% more likely to orgasm than during the first time hookup. Similarly, the same study found that women in a relationship for longer than six months were more than six times more likely to orgasm than during a first sexual encounter.
There are also orgasmic differences based on one’s sexual orientation. For example, research shows that 86% of lesbians achieve orgasm usually or always during partnered sex, whereas only 66% of bisexual women and 65% of heterosexual women have this experience. This shows that rather than being an anatomical issue leading to a lower orgasm rate in women, it is a cultural prioritization of male pleasure above female pleasure.
Other interesting female orgasm statistics include:
- 43% of women have achieved multiple orgasms.
- 20% of women have achieved an orgasm thinking about a sexual fantasy.
- 70% of women have more intense orgasms after using cannabis.
- 14 minutes is the average time for a woman to orgasm during partnered sex.
- 8 minutes is the average time for a woman to orgasm during solo masturbation.
- 13-51 seconds is the average duration of a female orgasm.
Trans Folks Orgasm
Unfortunately, most larger studies on orgasm focus on cis folks, leaving much unknown regarding trans folks and orgasm. However, smaller studies show that trans folks have an increased likelihood of having orgasmic difficulties than cis folks, with 29% of trans women and 15% of trans men having orgasmic issues.
However, another study found that their orgasm rate increased after having gender-affirming surgery, with trans men’s orgasm frequency going from 45.5% to 77.8% post-surgery. Similarly, a study of transwomen found that post-op, 80% of folks were able to achieve orgasm. However, the post-op orgasm rate differs depending on many factors, including which surgical option they choose.
Overall, it appears that for some folks, gender dysphoria may get in the way of them experiencing pleasure. However, when they get gender-affirming surgery, it may assuage some of that, leading to a higher rate of orgasm, assuming that they get a surgery that doesn’t impact their ability to experience sexual pleasure.
How to Increase the Chances of Female Orgasm?
The chances of having a women orgasm significantly increase if you incorporate clitoral stimulation into a sexual encounter. For example, 51-60% of orgasms achieved during penetration are from simultaneous clitoral stimulation.
Further, 90% of women orgasmed during encounters where anal sex was involved. As well, receiving oral sex increases the chances of orgasm by 23%, and having a partner who is excited and open to the idea of using a vibrator also highly increases the chances of female orgasms. Indeed, openness to trying sexual activity other than PV sex increases women’s likelihood of orgasm.
Virtual Reality Orgasm Statistics
As our technology continues to advance, so does our ability to use these advancements for sexual pleasure. Watching virtual reality porn involves putting on a VR headset or a smartphone fitted into headgear. When watching VR porn, you are a part of the scene, and your perspective is one of the performers. This allows for a more multidimensional, interactive experience. Indeed, research shows that when watching VR porn, users felt more desired, flirted with, and connected to porn stars than with regular porn.
In my social media survey, I also asked people with vulvas about their experience with having an orgasm using VR technology. The results showed that 88% of folks had not had an orgasm this way, 8% had had an orgasm this way, and 4% were unsure. VR technology is inching into the mainstream as prices are slowly becoming more reasonable, so I hypothesize that these numbers will dramatically increase over the next five years and perhaps even become the primary method for viewing porn down the road.
I spoke with Dr. Nazanin Moali, who agreed, sharing, “Due to the cost of getting the right equipment and also less options in terms of available performances, the majority of the porn users haven’t incorporated them in their daily lives; however, I expect this to change in the near future.”
She asserts this will have positive and negative consequences. One issue is that some people may get too into VR porn. Dr. Moali shared, “Interestingly, people complained less about their solo sexual experiences taking over their lives when they were masturbating to magazines vs. when motion pictures became mainstream. I expect the same trend to occur with wider VR adoption.”
However, she also shared many positive outcomes, including that down the road, “VR could also be a tool for building and practicing sexual skills in an environment that feels more safe and less vulnerable.” She also asserted that these technological changes could also help make sex more accessible and pleasurable, especially for those in long-distance relationships.
Smart Toy Orgasm Statistics
Smart sex toys include remote-controlled sex toys, biofeedback toys, and sex toys that use AI. Lovense is one of the biggest brands creating remotely controlled toys that are great for syncing for couples in different physical spaces and can also sync with camming platforms, VR, and 3D gaming.
In my social media survey, 22% of folks had experienced a smart toy orgasm, 74% did not, and 4% were unsure if they did. When asked about their experience, one person that had an orgasm with a smart toy shared: “ I love the connection that the app control toys bring, especially in LDRs.” Another user said, “Love it. We used it at dinner on vacation one time, and it was so hot.” One disappointed user shared that the experience was “Bad because the operator had no idea what he was doing.”
Indeed, just like someone can be good or bad at giving pleasure with their hands and mouth, there is a technique for using smart sex toys to facilitate the most pleasure, and sometimes there may be a steep learning curve.
Conclusions
Although women do not experience as many satisfactory orgasms as men, alone or during partnered sex, there is an identifiable shift in our culture toward prioritizing female pleasure. As our culture and technology continue to advance, it will become even easier for folks with vulvas to experience more pleasure.
You can do your part by learning more about vulva anatomy, getting comfortable communicating about pleasure during sex, exploring non-penetrative forms of sex, and maybe even incorporating sex toys or sex tech into your sexual repetiteur.
Thanks for reading my women’s orgasms statistics!
Niki
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