It’s an age-old truism that “sex sells” — and, as coronavirus-related quarantining picks up worldwide, it appears that sales for the sex industry are indeed booming. With people stuck at home under government-enforced quarantine measures or self-imposed social distancing, there are a whole lot people around the globe who find themselves with lots of free time on their hands. And those hands, it seems, are getting very busy indeed. 

Last Thursday, Pornhub released data about the effect that COVID-19 has had so far on its traffic. Peak traffic times changing around the world as folks working from home don’t have to deal with daily commutes. For instance, “[Traffic] dipped -9% below average at 8am. Normally 8am is one of the most popular times to visit Pornhub, but most likely people who did not need to commute to work the next day stayed up later and slept in longer than they normally would.”

“As the Coronavirus spread around the world, Pornhub’s traffic did grow,” the site reported. “When compared to a normal period, traffic was up 13.8% in Italy, 12.4% in Belgium, 10.9% in the Netherlands and 9.4% in Czechia.”

And, when xHamster announced they’d provide free Premium access to their site for people in particularly hard-hit regions, they reported, “Registrations on xHamster.com alone have surged 22% in just a day — an incredible number for a site that already sees over 12 billion visits a year.”

Of course, those are both tube sites. But if their numbers are any indication, it’s reasonable to hope that other membership sites and platforms, like cam sites, OnlyFans and other apps like it, and many other outlets for adult entertainment, will also see a surge in the coming weeks.

But it’s not just pornography that’s seeing a surge: Sex toy sales, too, are on the upswing. On Friday, the Daily Mail reported, “Sales for sex toys and online dating use have soared in the months since coronavirus became a global health crisis.”

Adult toy brand Womanizer told the Mail, “In Italy sex toy purchases are trending 60 per cent above the forecast, in France it’s 40 per cent, in Canada it’s 135 per cent, in the United States it’s 75 per cent and Hong Kong is 71 per cent. Even in Australia sales have increased by 31 per cent since January, with the nation confirming that 195 have been diagnosed.”

Particularly, the We-Vibe Chorus, a toy that can be used remotely, “is already low in stock as people have shown increased interest during this time,” said Womanizer’s Head of Sexual Empowerment. Johanna Rief told FEMAIL. Folks who are separated by quarantine measures can still be intimate using toys like this.

It will be interesting to see if these trends continue in the coming weeks, as countries around the world continue to impose curfews, lockdowns and even laws forbidding public gatherings. 

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