The Most Recent Porn Facts and Statistics (Updated 2021)

Knowing about pornography addiction is one thing, but understanding the facts and statistics is another. Taking some time to read the numbers associated with porn addiction can give you some idea of how widespread this issue is.

Furthermore, these statistics can help you understand that it’s possible to treat a porn addiction. If you or someone that you care about has an addiction to porn, then you can get help. These stats prove that the available treatments are effective.

What is pornography?

Pornography is a term that describes sexual material. Most pornography viewed nowadays is found on the internet, but it can also be found in magazines, in movies, or in books. 

Pornography is generally designed to help create arousal in people. People are naturally hardwired to respond to sexual activity. This can lead to the development of porn addictions and sex addictions.

Porn can take a lot of different forms on the internet. In fact, it’s one of the largest industries on the planet. With the porn industry making around $5 billion a year, some sources report that it might actually have a bigger influence on the American economy than Netflix.

What are the trends of porn addiction?

As society continues to move along, porn addiction follows a number of different trends. Different demographics are more or less prone to developing porn addictions. Here are a few examples of trends of porn addiction.

Porn Among Young Teens and Adults

Porn has historically been popular among younger teens, especially those who are new to exploring their sexuality. Before the age of 18, boys now have a 90% chance of being exposed to pornography, whereas girls have a 60% chance.

These trends continue even earlier on, with about half of male children younger than 13 having been exposed to porn in some way. Not all of these cases were intentional, however.

Further study reveals that many young adults actually rely on porn for information about how to perform sexually. About 25% of young adults surveyed said that they watched porn as their primary source of sex education.

Even young girls have said that they use pornography to improve their sexual skills. When polled by a report studying the effects of pornography, many mentioned that they used pornography to help them understand how to meet the expectation of the boys that they slept with.

Despite the rampant use of pornography in the teenage years, 41% of children who were aware of pornography agreed that it would make people less respectful of the opposite sex. 

Porn In the Workplace

The trend of viewing porn in the workplace is also increasing, especially in North America. As many as 25% of adults, according to an article published in Forbes in 2013, reported looking at porn on their work computers at some point. 

Interestingly enough, the majority of the porn viewed at work occurred during typical work hours - between 9 AM and 5 PM. Statistics from previous studies revealed that two out of every three human resources workers had discovered porn on the computers of employees.

Increasing Violence

Over the years, more and more violence has been depicted in porn. In a recent study, more than 300 porn scenes were evaluated. These scenes were from porn deemed ‘popular,’ i.e. that which would be viewed by a large audience.

Of these scenes, more than 88% contained physical violence, 98% of which was directed towards the women in the films.

This trend of increasing violence in pornography is translating over to real-life sex encounters. More than 39% of women surveyed reported that they were the victim of unwanted violence (slapping, choking, etc.) during consensual sex.

The increase in the frequency of these behaviors, consensual or otherwise, is likely a result of their becoming increasingly popular components of pornography. People witness these behaviors in porn films, assume that they are important for a healthy or enjoyable sex life, and begin practicing them in person.

Statistics of Online Porn Addiction

One of the biggest issues associated with the gathering of porn addiction is the challenge of getting widespread statistics. One of the reasons for this is that most sexual addictions are categorized under the broad category of ‘sex addiction,’ at least by the American Psychiatric Association.

This means that people who struggle with masturbation addiction, pornography addiction, and sex addiction are all lumped into the same category. That said, there are some studies and statistics that relate specifically to porn addiction.

Here are a few quick stats about porn and porn addiction.

• About 200,000 Americans are addicted to porn.
• 37 new porn videos are made every day in the United States.
• 28,000 people are watching porn at any given moment.
• About $3,000 is spent every second on pornographic material.
• 35% of all downloads on the internet are related to porn
  

Analysing some of the most popular pornographic websites can also give insight into how widespread pornography is. Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular porn sites, sees a steady increase in new users each year. According to their own website, between the years of 2017 and 2018, their annual visits increased from 28.5 billion to 33.5 billion.

How Porn Addiction Affects Youth

Porn addiction can affect people of any age, although youth are particularly susceptible to its influence. Here are a few examples of how young people are prone to being damaged by porn and porn addiction.

Increased risk of pregnancy

Teenagers who are frequently exposed to sexual imagery on TV are known to be more likely to have a pregnancy. Since these statistics are based on sexual exposure from TV shows — which are generally much milder than full-on porn — one might assume that the statistics of youth who view porn regularly are even higher.

Impaired Sexual Development

Oftentimes, people are in the prime stage of their sexual development when they are first exposed to porn. This can influence the way that they perceive sexuality and can have a negative influence on their sexual development.

This can lead to the development of sexual uncertainty or aggressiveness, as well as noncommittal sex. People exposed to porn early-on tend to develop an attitude of sex being a pastime or an ego-boosting goal to strive for.

Does Porn Addiction Affect Your Relationship?

Porn addiction can certainly affect your relationship. Porn addiction causes a number of changes in behavior and emotional health that can impact a marriage or partnership. Here are a few examples.

• People with porn addictions tend to eschew their responsibilities, losing track of things that are important to them in pursuit of porn
• People with porn addictions will sacrifice some of their personal intimacy to watch pornography
• If you are in a relationship and have children with someone, their pornography addiction could take away from time that they could spend with your kids
• People with porn addictions are preoccupied with sexual thoughts throughout the day. This could cause changes in the way that they perceive you or expect you to behave
  

Whether or not your partner developed the porn addiction during your relationship is also a factor. Research shows that even teenagers who develop porn addictions may experience issues that affect their future relationships.

Some of the problems that teens can pick up as a result of watching porn include:

• A skewed view of the world, the people in it, and how they should behave
• Decreased ability to build healthy and loving relationships
• Normalization of sexual violence and aggression
• Increases in direct and passive aggression towards women
• Higher chance of engaging in high-risk behaviors
• Higher risk to become promiscuous and rely on, or use, drugs or alcohol as a prop for their sexual encounters
  

Finally, the feelings that you feel as a result of your partner’s addiction are also valid and worth consideration. Even if your partner is not actively trying to embarrass or replace you, you may find that you’re feeling:

• Rejected
• Betrayed
• Depressed
• Abandoned
• Isolated
• Lonely
• Humiliated
• Angry

These emotions alone can create conflict in your relationship. If your partner is not willing to listen as you express why you feel these things, the resulting turbulence could have far-reaching effects.

Porn Addiction Treatment Statistics

The need for porn addiction treatment services is quite high, though many people underestimate the importance of seeking treatment. Because porn addiction isn’t a chemical dependency, some people understate its importance.

However, at least one study has proven that people with porn addictions actually experienced a number of changes in their brains that were characteristic of other types of addiction. In other words, even without drugs, these people were changing their brain chemistry for the worse.

Various treatments are offered for people who struggle with a sex addiction. The success rate of official ‘treatment’ from sex addictions is relatively low, however, these treatments can help people manage symptoms and develop the skills necessary to lead a happier and healthier life.