Sex in numbers

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) embarked on a yearlong project to ask Americans about their sexual habits and orientations, the federal agency hoped to gather information relevant to public-health concerns, such as fertility and sexually transmitted diseases. It may have accomplished that. Who knows? We couldn’t get past the fact that 43.2 percent of 15-year-old boys out there have had sex of some sort. Or that 3.9 percent of men responding to survey consider themselves not heterosexual, not homosexual nor bisexual, but rather “something else.” The survey was conducted between March 2002 and March 2003, in person, by employees of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The interviewees, 12,571 people (4,928 men and 7,643 women), self-reported into a laptop computer to protect their privacy. The complete survey can be found here: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad362.pdf.

Percentage of males ages 15-44 who have never had sex: 9.6

The percentage for boys age 15: 55.9

And for men 40-44: 1.9

Percentage of females ages 15-44 who have never had sex: 8.6

Median number of lifetime sexual partners for males ages 25-44: 6.7

And for the same age group of females: 3.8

Percentage of females ages 15-44 who answered “yes” when asked “Have you ever had any sexual experience of any kind with another female?": 11

Percentage of males ages 15-19 who have had oral or anal sex with another male: 4.5

Percentage of males ages 20-24 who have received oral sex from a female: 80

Percentage of those males who have performed oral sex on a female: 90.6

Among both males and females ages 15-24, top reason given for never having had vaginal intercourse: “Against religion or morals”

Percentage of males giving that answer who have engaged in oral sex: 16.2

The percentage for females: 21.8

Percentage of males ages 15-44 who say they have had 15 or more sexual partners in their lifetime: 23.2

The percentage for females of the same age range: 9.2

Percentage of males ages 18-44 who identified their sexual orientation as “heterosexual": 90.2

Percentage of males ages 18-44 who listed neither “homosexual” nor “bisexual,” but rather “something else” to describe their sexual orientation: 3.9

Percentage of black or African-American males ages 18-44 who chose the “something else” option: 7.5

Percentage of females ages 18-44 who identified their sexual orientation as “heterosexual": 90.3

Percentage of females ages 18-44 who listed neither “homosexual” nor “bisexual,” but rather “something else” to describe their sexual orientation: 3.8

Percentage of black or African-American females ages 18-44 who chose the “something else” option: 6.5

Percentage of males 18-44 who have had oral or anal sex with another male and described themselves as “heterosexual": 49.1

Percentage of females 18-44 who have had sexual experience with another female and described themselves as “heterosexual": 65.1