Women in France have had more sexual partners than they did two decades ago, new research shows.
The National Institute for Demographic Studies rejected claims that young people are increasingly becoming less interested in having sex.
According to its findings, by the time French women reach the age of 29 they have had sex with more partners than their counterparts 20 years ago.
Almost 29 per cent of women aged between 25 and 29 said they had had sex with at least ten different men, compared to 8 per cent in 2006.
Researcher Marie Bergström attributed the ‘renewal of sexual practices and diversification of relations’ in France to an increase in the number of partners.
And while 21 per cent of young people said they had not had sex for over 12 months, Bergström linked this to a drop in the number of under-30’s in steady relationships and a rise in the amount of women to refuse sex when they did not want it.
The study, which included 10,000 French people aged 18 to 29, also showed that the number of those who identify as straight had dropped sharply.
More than 14 per cent of participants identified as gay, bisexual, pansexual or another minority sexual orientation.
This was most common among Gen Z women, of whom 81 per cent identified as straight, compared with 92 per cent of men.
Meanwhile, 10 per cent of French women identified as bisexual, two per cent homosexual and five per cent pansexual.
Two per cent of women said they identified as asexual.
Sexual violence is the reason for the shift, Bergström said, noting that for French women, heterosexuality was a ‘system for favouring relationships of domination and violence by men against women’.
Similar trends have also been observed in the UK.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 9.4 per cent of Gen Z women and 4.5 per cent of men identified as something other than heterosexual.