British News Agency

A new study challenges the long-held belief that sexual desire in men declines in their 20s, emphasizing the role of individual differences rather than purely biological statistics.

According to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), testosterone—the hormone that fuels male sexual drive—begins to decline by about one percent per year after the age of 30. This has contributed to the widespread belief that men are most sexually driven in their 20s.

However, a research team from the University of Tartu in Estonia found that the opposite is true.

By analyzing data from more than 67,000 adults aged between 20 and 84, the researchers discovered that men’s sexual desire continues to increase until their early 40s, after which it begins to decline gradually.

Toivo Aavik, a professor at the University of Tartu and co-author of the study, told Euronews Health: “Hormones matter. But they are not the whole story, and their relative importance changes across the life course. Our data show that desire lasts longer than purely hormonal explanations would predict, and that social and relational factors explain a large part of this variation.”

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, raises important questions about the complexity of human desire beyond biology, examining how it is shaped by a vortex of psychological and environmental factors that influence overall life satisfaction.

“Desire is not a marginal curiosity. It is central to how people experience sexuality, form sexual relationships, and evaluate their intimate lives. Practically speaking, it is also extremely important for relationship health and, of course, overall health,” Aavik said.

The study also found that certain professions—including machine operators, senior managers, drivers and military personnel—were associated with higher sexual appetite. In contrast, people working in office jobs and customer service roles reported lower levels of sexual desire.

In contrast to the findings for men, the study reported that women’s desire peaks between the ages of 20 and 30 and declines significantly after the age of 50.

This aligns with previous research on the effects of declining estrogen in women during and after menopause. As documented by Johns Hopkins Medicine, women reported a 23 percent decline in sexual activity between their 50s and 70s.