We studied the search frequency (relative to population) of sexual toys among the American and European populations to analyze the interest in adult sex toys in various regions.

The sex toy market is growing at a rate of approximately 7.6% annually and is expected to reach 54.6 billion by 2026. It can be seen that the stigmatization of using sex toys is being broken, and they are gradually becoming commonplace in daily life.
Sexual interest has become an important component of popular culture and social media, with many retail and pharmaceutical giants selling erotic products in physical stores, further increasing the visibility and exposure of the erotic industry and promoting its de stigmatization development.
When discussing sexual health and overall happiness, professionals often emphasize the importance of implementing safe sexual behavior. This also includes the use of sex toys, which typically provide a safer option for one-time sexual contact. This was especially true during the COVID-19 epidemic. It was impossible to have casual dating. People turned to sex toys to release sexual energy.

Online search for “sex toys” statistics

In this study, we examined the search volume for the four most popular types of sex toy keywords: vibrator, dildo, penis ring, and male masturbator (airplane cup), as well as the commonly used keyword for searching for whole sex toys (sextoy). All keywords were studied in English and each language used in European countries.

Swedish research on sex toys is 41.7% higher than any other country in Europe and 56.7% higher than any state in the United States.
The research on the term ‘sex toy’ by Swedes is more than twice that of any other country in Europe and more than three times that of any state in the United States.
Estonia has the most research on vibrators, with an average of 326.6 searches per month. This is three times the average monthly search volume of 103 in Louisiana, which is the highest in the United States.

The monthly search volume for fake penises is the most popular in Norway, at 285.4 times. The highest ranked state in the United States is Alaska, with 181 searches per month.
The popularity of penile rings is similar in Europe and the United States, with Maine and Iceland ranking first, with an average monthly search volume of 111 and 99.5, respectively.
The regions with the highest number of searches for airplane cups are Oregon and Switzerland, with 240 and 221.9 searches, respectively.

The search volume in various states in the United States is very close. In Europe, Nordic countries are in a leading position and exceed the search volume of the United States
Search volume shows a similar trend throughout the United States.
Search volume is indeed related to income, but the correlation between the United States and Europe is opposite: GDP and average income are related to search for sex toys, with slightly higher interest in sex toys in less affluent states in the United States. Europe shows stronger correlation, but in the opposite direction, with higher search volume in rich country regions.

Summary: Nordic countries, especially Sweden, are far ahead

To understand our overall interest in sex toys, we added up the search volume for all the keywords we studied. Then divide the value into the population of the corresponding state or country/region. The last number shows the estimated monthly average search frequency for every 100000 adults.
The data shows that Swedes have the highest overall interest in sex toys. The runner up is Denmark, 41.7% lower than Sweden. The other three countries in the top five are the United Kingdom, Norway, and Finland, with almost twice the search volume of the former.
In the United States, there is little difference between the various states, and no state stands out significantly. The top 5 include West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alaska, Maine, and Mississippi.

Nordic countries have the highest number of searches for ‘sex toys’
We calculated how many people searched for the term ‘sextoy’ and other synonyms that are more popular in certain countries/regions, such as’ sex toys’.
In this situation, we found that Swedes once again showed the highest interest in sex toys. In Sweden, the frequency of studying this word is twice that of any other country in Europe and more than three times that of any state in the United States
In the state by state comparison in the United States, it is evident that the results are similar, with no state having a dominant numerical position.
In the United States, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Maine are among the top three.
In Europe, the top three countries are Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

Estonia has the highest number of searches for “”vibrators””, three times that of any state in the United States.
The vibrator is the most popular sex toy in the world. They account for approximately 39% of the overall personalized toy market.
The top three countries in Europe include Estonia, Poland, and the Netherlands. The search frequency of various states in the United States is very close, with Louisiana ranking first, Mississippi finishing second, and Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming tied for third place.

Norway and Sweden have the most searches for dildos

Like vibrators, dildos lead the sex toy market with a 21% market share.
False penises are more popular in Europe than in the United States, with Norway, Sweden, and Denmark leading the way.
In the United States, Alaska has the highest search volume for dildos, trailing West Virginia and North Carolina.

Penis Rings have similar popularity in Europe and the United States

The countries with the highest number of searches in Europe (relative to their population) include Iceland, Hungary, and the Netherlands.
In the United States, penile rings are most searched in Maine, Alaska, and West Virginia. If we combine the data from these two regions, the US states dominate, while only one country in Europe ranks in the top five.

Masturbation Sleeves

The countries with the highest number of searches in Europe are Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Finland. The United States, Oregon, New Mexico, and Oklahoma are in the top three.
From a historical perspective, sex toys have mostly been seen as industries targeting women. Recently, this situation has changed, and aircraft cup penile condoms and male masturbators have become one of the fastest-growing products in the sex toy industry.
This significant growth may contribute to the increasing popularity of male sex toys overall, as penile condoms serve as a gateway for both manufacturers and consumers. The industry has seen potential, and consumers have discovered a gateway product to markets that may be perceived as having negative biases.

Wealth and sex toys

We would also like to know if there is any correlation between the GDP of a state (or country) and interest in sex toys. To determine this, plot the data on a scatter plot, displaying:
The ratio of search volume per 100.000 adults to per capita GDP,
Comparison of search volume and average monthly income (in US dollars) per 100.000 adults;
This was completed for each state in the United States and for European countries.
These charts help us understand the relationship between these two values and answer the question of whether there is any correlation.
From the figure below, it can be seen that the relationship between the United States and Europe is exactly the opposite.
In the United States, the higher the per capita GDP, the lower the interest in sex toys. However, taking the United States as an example, it is worth acknowledging that most states are within a relatively narrow range, so it is difficult to draw strong conclusions based solely on this chart.
In Europe, the situation is completely opposite, with countries with higher per capita GDP often showing higher interest in sex toys. There, the differences between countries are more pronounced, and low GDP countries almost completely show lower search volume.
The trend shown in the average monthly income chart is very similar to that shown in the GDP chart. The relative position between states and countries has slightly changed, while the overall distribution has not changed significantly. This applies to the United States and Europe.

Method

The keywords we use for our research mainly come from an industry report by Statista, which calculates the market share of popular sex toys. We manually collected the best-selling product keywords from several large sex toy e-commerce platforms (such as Adam&Eve).
We use universal keywords instead of brand specific keywords. The only exception is Fleshlight, which has become synonymous with the “”airplane cup”” based on our initial survey data.
For non English speaking markets, we use local online adult stores to determine similar keywords used in their respective countries/regions.
We use Google Trends tool to determine the relative popularity of each keyword nationwide. We use this data and the US Census Demographic Report to proportionally allocate the estimated search volume to each state in the United States.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and average income data are from the International Monetary Fund and the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.
All demographic data comes from the US Census Bureau or CIA World Factbook.
In this study, we only used estimates from Google search engines, which means we must adjust population data to account for Google’s market share in each country/region. We use all of this data to calculate the number of searches per 100000 adults.