BIG sex survey results: when, how many, how often and with whom

More than three times a week; once a week; once a month, or not at all in the last year: when it comes to sex, there is no 'normal'.

However, we do now at least have a national average. Yes, the country's biggest ever sex survey has been compiled – and the results prove once and for all that we are indeed a nation that loves to get jiggy with it.

Put together by the Irish Times, it noted that close-to half of sexually-active respondents enjoy bedroom action at least once a week. Hurrah!

With more than 12,000 people responding to the survey, it has been revealed that more than a fifth of women aged between 17 and 24 are hitting that magic three-times-a-week target – though just 16 percent of 17-24-year-old males could lay claim to the same.

But having a lot doesn't mean having it with just anyone: a third of 17-24 year-old men have never had a one-night stand, with 37 percent of women also claiming the same (though at the other end of the scale, some 15 percent of men and 14 percent of women in the 25-34 age bracket have had more than five one-night stands).

Indeed, six out of every ten women and more than half of men aged 17-24 have had between two and ten partners.

We're not all that eager to jump into the sack too early either: the average age to lose your virginity is 19.

And just 16 percent overall have had a threesome or group sex.

However, despite such comprehensive research, sexologist Emily Power Smith told the newspaper that people shouldn’t compare themselves to the statistics. 

“Six months to a year is what we know as the ‘honeymoon period’… It is a physiological fact that we cannot keep producing the same hormones that we did in the beginning.

“Therefore we need different skills and levels of communication if we hope to sustain an exciting and satisfying sex life.”