Do all men watch porn? No. Most men have watched it at some point, and around half or more say they watched in the past year, but a real share of men have not watched recently or ever. In a nationally representative US survey from 2015, 82% of men had ever watched sexually explicit videos and 53% had done so in the past year. That leaves nearly half of adult men who had not watched in the past year.
This page collects the most reliable figures we could verify, with the population and year for each. If you are asking because of your own relationship, my boyfriend watches porn and is watching porn cheating? are written for that.
Evidence strength: stronger for the broad picture that most men have watched porn, from several national probability samples; developing for exact percentages, which shift with question wording and time window; early for figures on married men and on problematic use in the general population. The partner’s story below is lived experience.
What percentage of men watch porn?
Each figure answers a slightly different question, so they are not interchangeable:
| Study | Who was asked | Men: ever | Men: recently |
|---|---|---|---|
| US, 2015 | 975 men aged 18+, national probability sample | 82% | 53% past year; 35% past month |
| US, 2014 | Men aged 18–39, national sample | — | 46% past week |
| US, published 2019 | 1,016 men, national sample of internet users | about 85% | about 7 in 10 past year |
| Australia, 2012–13 | 9,963 men aged 16–69, national sample | 84% | about 64% past year |
| Poland, published 2019 | 2,633 male university students aged 18–26 | 79% | — |
The 2015 US figures come from the Sexual Exploration in America Study, which asked about “sexually explicit videos or DVDs.” Read the study. The past-week figure comes from a 2014 survey that asked when people had last viewed porn on purpose; 46% of men and 16% of women aged 18 to 39 had done so in the previous week. Read the study.
In a study published in 2019 of 2,075 US adult internet users, matched to census norms, most participants had viewed porn in their lifetime and just over half had in the past year. Our reading of the study’s table for men puts lifetime use at about 85% and past-year use at roughly 7 in 10. Read the study.
In Australia, telephone interviews with 9,963 men found that 84% had ever looked at porn and three-quarters of those had in the past year. Read the study. In an online survey of 6,463 Polish university students, 79% of male students had been exposed to porn, almost the same share as female students. Read the study.
How many married men watch porn?
This is the most common question, and the honest answer is that good figures are scarce. We could not find a recent nationally representative estimate for married men alone that we could check against the original data. Figures quoted on many websites rarely trace back to a study.
What the research does show:
- In the Australian study, men who lived with a regular sexual partner were less likely to have looked at porn in the past year than other men, although that difference did not hold once other factors were taken into account. Read the study.
- In a 2021 online survey that recruited married adults across Iran, 35.9% of the 384 men reported porn use in the past year. Read the study. It was a convenience sample in a conservative setting, so it shows how much culture shifts the number rather than a figure for married men elsewhere.
So living with a partner may go with somewhat lower use, though the evidence is thin, and plenty of married men still watch. If you want to know about your own husband, a survey cannot tell you; a conversation can. Our guide to talking with a partner about porn can help.
Do men watch less porn as they get older?
On average, yes. In the 2015 US survey, past-year viewing among men was 69% at ages 25 to 29, 56% in their 40s and 36% at 70 and over. Read the study. In the Australian study, men aged 40 and over were also less likely to have looked at porn in the past year; after other factors were taken into account, the difference held for men aged 60 to 69. Some of this may be generational rather than age itself; one survey at a single point in time cannot separate the two.
How many men have a problem with porn?
Far fewer than watch it. Different studies measure different things:
- At risk of problematic use. The International Sex Survey collected data from 82,243 people in 42 countries. On one standard scale, 3.2% were at risk of problematic pornography use, with men reporting the highest levels; depending on the measure used, estimates ranged from 3.2% to 16.6%. Only 4 to 10% of those at risk had ever sought treatment. Read the study. It was a large online survey, not a probability sample.
- Distress about controlling sexual behavior in general. In a US national sample of 2,325 adults aged 18 to 50, surveyed in 2016, 10.3% of men and 7.0% of women screened above a cut-off for clinically relevant distress or impairment linked to difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges and behavior. Read the study. This covers more than porn, and a screening score is not a diagnosis.
- Feeling addicted. In the US study of internet users, about 11% of men agreed at least somewhat that they were addicted to porn. That feeling was linked to how much people watched, but also to religiousness and to use that clashed with their own values. In Australia, 4% of men said they felt addicted. Among Polish students currently using porn, 15.5% saw themselves as addicted.
Our page on porn addiction, PPU and CSBD explains these terms, and when porn use becomes a problem looks at the signs that matter more than any statistic.
Why the numbers vary so much
If one website quotes a much higher figure than another, the cause is usually the question, not the men:
- Time window. “Ever” catches anyone who has seen porn once. “Past week” catches regular use.
- Wording. “Sexually explicit videos,” “pornography” and “X-rated films” mean different things to different people. The 2014 analysis found that asking about the most recent use produced higher estimates than asking about general habits.
- Who is asked. Internet users, students, volunteers online and random national samples give different answers.
- Honesty. Surveys rely on self-report, and people may under-report what they feel ashamed of; the Iranian researchers used anonymous sampling for exactly that reason.
A review of how porn use is measured concluded that the field relies on inconsistent, poorly validated questions, which helps explain why results disagree. Read the review.
What the numbers can’t tell you
Statistics describe other people. They do not settle what is acceptable in your relationship, or whether your own use is a problem.
For partners, “everyone does it” is often used to end a conversation. Olivia, 38, says her husband told her “all men are visual, all men watch porn,” and she went along with a paid subscription for years while feeling “devastated.” Read her story. Common does not mean you have to be fine with it; this page on whether porn counts as cheating looks at how couples draw that line.
For men, being in the majority does not mean your use is working for you. If you have tried to cut back and could not, or it is costing you sleep, sex or closeness, recognizing a porn problem is a better guide than any percentage.
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