The numbers.
The number of sexually transmitted infections in 2003 was 11,000, more than four times the number in 1989
Men aged 45-54 are the most likely age group to have had genital homosexual experiences, and also most likely to have had them earlier.
Twenty-five per cent of men and 12 per cent of women who are "mostly attracted to the opposite gender" have had a same-sex partner. Only 35 per cent of men who have had a same-sex experience in the last year have had sex with men alone. The survey concludes that gender orientation is a spectrum.
Having sex before the age of 17 is a growing trend, experienced by 30 per cent of men under 25, and 22 per cent of women under 25. Amongst 25-34-year-olds, 27 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women had sex before age 17.
Younger people are more likely to use contraception at first intercourse; 88 per cent of men and 94 per cent of women in the 18-24 age group used contraception.
Eighty per cent of 18-24-year-old men have experienced oral sex, compared to less than half of men aged over 54. Amongst men and women, those aged 25-34 are the most likely to experiment; of women in this age group, 78 per cent have experienced oral sex and 13 per cent have experienced anal sex. This compares to 88 per cent of men in that group experiencing oral sex and 18 per cent experiencing anal sex.
Seventy-five per cent of men and 65 per cent of women aged 18-24 had oral sex in the last year, compared to 71 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women aged 35-44. Younger women are six times more likely than older women to have oral sex because they see it as part of their "sexual script".