Sex Toy Statistics: Use, Hygiene and Safety Data

By Maya Laurent (staff professional name) · Last updated October 27, 2026 · Expert review: pending · Editorial Policy

Short answer: about half of adults in national surveys from the US, Canada and Germany report using a sex toy. Most people clean toys with soap and water, about 1 in 5 Canadian survey participants reported sharing a toy, and lab studies show cleaning reduces but may not remove all germs. Every figure below comes from a peer-reviewed study, linked in the sources list.

Key statistics

  • US women: 52.5% of women aged 18-60 had used a vibrator, in a nationally representative study of 2,056 women (Herbenick et al., 2009).[1]
  • US men: 44.8% of men aged 18-60 had used a vibrator during sexual activity at some point in their lives, in a national survey of 1,047 men run in April 2008 (Reece et al., 2009).[2]
  • US adults, 2015: 50.2% of women and 32.9% of men reported having used a vibrator or dildo, in a nationally representative sample of 2,021 adults (Herbenick et al., 2017).[3]
  • Canada: 52.3% of 1,435 people in a Canada-wide online survey reported sex toy use (Wood et al., 2017).[4]
  • Germany: 52% of 1,723 heterosexual adults reported toy use with a partner and 45% reported solo use (Döring & Poeschl, 2020).[5]
  • Sharing: 21.7% of Canadian survey participants reported sharing a toy with a partner.[4]
  • Cleaning: HPV was still found on 5 of 9 TPE and 4 of 9 silicone vibrator shafts right after cleaning (Anderson et al., 2014).[6]
  • Emergency visits: an estimated 18,547 vibrator and 6,468 dildo injuries were treated in US emergency departments from 2000 to 2019 (Forrester, 2021).[7]

How many people use sex toys?

Population Sample Finding Source
US women, 18-60 2,056, nationally representative 52.5% ever used a vibrator (95% CI 50.3-54.7%) Herbenick et al., 2009[1]
US men, 18-60 1,047, national survey (April 2008) 44.8% ever used a vibrator in sexual activity; 10.0% in the past month Reece et al., 2009[2]
US adults (2015) 2,021 (1,046 women, 975 men), nationally representative Ever used a vibrator or dildo: women 50.2%, men 32.9% Herbenick et al., 2017[3]
Canada 1,435, online survey 52.3% reported sex toy use Wood et al., 2017[4]
Germany, heterosexual adults 1,723, national online sample 52% used toys in partnered sex; 45% in solo sex Döring & Poeschl, 2020[5]

Reading the table: the studies ask different questions (vibrators only vs. any toy, lifetime vs. solo or partnered use) in different years, so the numbers are not directly comparable. They do agree on one thing: toy use is common, not niche.

Health and side effects

  • Few reported symptoms: 71.5% of women in the US vibrator study said they had never had genital symptoms linked to vibrator use (Herbenick et al., 2009).[1]
  • Interest gap: in 2015, a dildo or vibrator was rated "very appealing" by 22.7% of women and 12.2% of men (Herbenick et al., 2017).[3]

Cleaning and sharing

  • Soap and water is the norm: most Canadian survey participants said they clean their toys regularly with soap and water (Wood et al., 2017).[4]
  • About 1 in 5 share: 21.7% reported sharing a toy with a partner.[4]
  • Cleaning is not sterile: in a 12-woman Indiana University study, HPV was found on vibrator shafts before cleaning (8 of 9 TPE, 6 of 9 silicone) and right after cleaning (5 of 9 TPE, 4 of 9 silicone).[6]
  • Material mattered at 24 hours: 2 of the 5 TPE shafts that were positive after cleaning still tested positive 24 hours later; none of the silicone shafts did.[6]

For step-by-step cleaning by material, see our care and storage guide.

Materials and chemicals

  • Small lab test, clear signal: a 2023 Duke University-led study tested 4 toys made of PET, PVC, a silicone blend and a polyisoprene rubber mix.[8]
  • Phthalates in every toy tested: the authors found phthalates known to be endocrine disruptors in all 4 toys, at levels above hazard warnings.[8]
  • Not the whole market: the authors state their data set is not meant to represent sex toys as a whole class of products.[8]

Emergency room visits

  • 25,000+ estimated injuries in 20 years: 18,547 vibrator and 6,468 dildo injuries were treated in US emergency departments from 2000 to 2019 (national estimates).[7]
  • Rising share: about 35% of each total happened in just the last 4 years, 2016-2019.[7]
  • Most common problem: the device was lodged in the rectum and could not be removed in 71.3% of vibrator and 83.6% of dildo injuries.[7]
  • Retrieval visits are growing: US emergency visits for objects lodged in the rectum rose from 1.2 to 1.9 per 100,000 people from 2012 to 2021; 55.4% of the objects were sexual devices (Loria et al., 2023).[9]

What the data does not show

  • No recent national US or Canadian use figures: the largest US studies date from 2008-2015; newer national data was not found in peer-reviewed sources.
  • No market-wide material testing: the 2023 chemical study tested 4 toys only.
  • Small infection study: the HPV study had 12 participants; it shows cleaning limits, not real-world infection rates.
  • We excluded industry and brand surveys: sales-driven polls are not peer-reviewed, so none of their numbers appear here.

FAQ

What percentage of people use sex toys?

In national surveys, roughly half: 52.5% of US women (vibrators), 52.3% of Canadian participants and 52% of German heterosexual adults (partnered use).[1][4][5]

Do more women or men use sex toys?

In the 2015 US sample, more women (50.2%) than men (32.9%) had used a vibrator or dildo.[3]

Does cleaning a sex toy kill all germs?

Not always. One study found HPV on some toys right after cleaning, and on some TPE toys a day later.[6]

Can I use these statistics?

Yes. Please cite the original study linked below; a link to this page as your summary source is appreciated.

Methodology

  • What we did: searched PubMed and journal sites for peer-reviewed studies on sex toy use, hygiene, materials and injuries.
  • Inclusion rule: a figure appears only if we could read it in the study's own abstract or full text.
  • What we excluded: brand, retailer and market-research surveys, news articles and figures we could not trace to a primary source.
  • No original data: we ran no survey or lab test; we report the authors' numbers as published.
  • Rounding: figures are shown as the authors report them; "about 1 in 5" rounds 21.7%.
  • Checked on: October 27, 2026. We review this page every 6 months, or sooner if new peer-reviewed data appears.

Sources

  1. Herbenick D, Reece M, Sanders S, Dodge B, Ghassemi A, Fortenberry JD. "Prevalence and characteristics of vibrator use by women in the United States: results from a nationally representative study." Journal of Sexual Medicine 6(7):1857-1866 (2009). doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01318.x
  2. Reece M, Herbenick D, Sanders SA, Dodge B, Ghassemi A, Fortenberry JD. "Prevalence and characteristics of vibrator use by men in the United States." Journal of Sexual Medicine 6(7):1867-1874 (2009). doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01290.x
  3. Herbenick D, Bowling J, Fu TJ, Dodge B, Guerra-Reyes L, Sanders S. "Sexual diversity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative probability sample of adult women and men." PLOS ONE 12(7):e0181198 (2017). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181198
  4. Wood J, Crann S, Cunningham S, Money D, O'Doherty K. "A cross-sectional survey of sex toy use, characteristics of sex toy use hygiene behaviours, and vulvovaginal health outcomes in Canada." The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 26(3):196-204 (2017). doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2017-0016
  5. Döring N, Poeschl S. "Experiences with Diverse Sex Toys Among German Heterosexual Adults: Findings From a National Online Survey." The Journal of Sex Research 57(7):885-896 (2020). doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2019.1578329
  6. Anderson TA, Schick V, Herbenick D, Dodge B, Fortenberry JD. "A study of human papillomavirus on vaginally inserted sex toys, before and after cleaning, among women who have sex with women and men." Sexually Transmitted Infections 90(7):529-531 (2014). doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2014-051558
  7. Forrester MB. "Vibrator and Dildo Injuries Treated at Emergency Departments." Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 47(7):687-695 (2021). doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2021.1938319
  8. Sipe JM, Amos JD, Swarthout RF, Turner A, Wiesner MR, Hendren CO. "Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks." Microplastics and Nanoplastics 3, 6 (2023). doi.org/10.1186/s43591-023-00054-6
  9. Loria A, et al. "Epidemiology and healthcare utilization for rectal foreign bodies in United States adults, 2012-2021." American Journal of Emergency Medicine 69:76-82 (2023). doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2023.03.041

Disclosures

We're a retailer: myluxurytoys sells sex toys. We don't name or link products on this page, and no study listed here was funded by us.

AI use: drafted with AI assistance, then every figure was checked against the source abstracts or full texts above. Expert review is pending. See our Editorial Policy.

Not medical advice: for injury, symptoms or infection concerns, see a clinician or sexual health clinic.

More guides and research: the My Luxury Toys Learn hub.