Money Talks: Why rich men and poor women are the only ones getting some in Japan

New research shows Japan is leading a global trend of declining sexual activity among young people. One in 10 Japanese hetero adults in their 30s have not lost their virginity.

Watch the full documentary above, Sex in Japan: Dying for Company

The number of heterosexual adult virgins in their late 30s in high-income countries is on the rise and Japan is leading the downturn, according to new research by the University of Tokyo.

Japanese adults are having their first heterosexual experiences later than adults in other countries, with around 10 per cent of heterosexual Japanese adults in their 30s admitting that they are virgins.

In comparable surveys from the U.K., U.S. and Australia, rates of heterosexual inexperience are around one to five per cent in adults in or around their 30s.

Researchers analysed the sexual history of Japanese adults using data from seven surveys conducted by the National Fertility Survey of Japan.

But leader researcher Dr. Peter Ueda said we shouldn't be quick to judge the data.

"Sexual inactivity or inexperience, whether voluntary or not, should not be exoticised, ridiculed, or necessarily considered a concern for everyone," Dr Ueda said.

'Money talks'

Men were more likely to have had sex if they had permanent, full-time employment and lived in cities with more than one million residents, according to the research. Compared to those with the highest incomes, men in the lowest income categories were 10 to 20 times more likely to have no heterosexual experience.

Women were more likely to have had sex if they had lower personal incomes, which researchers speculate may be because married women are more likely to have had sex and be full-time homemakers without a salary.

Source: The Feed/Patrick Forrest

"Although the discussion around cause and effect becomes very complex when considering who becomes sexually experienced and who remains a virgin, we show that heterosexual inexperience is at least partly a socioeconomic issue for men," said Cyrus Ghaznavi, an author of the study.

"Simply put, money talks."

The researchers only asked about sexual experience with someone of the opposite sex using a word that implies vaginal intercourse. It did not include same-sex experiences.

Around 44 percent of unmarried women and 42 percent of unmarried men admit they are virgins, according to The 2015 National Fertility Survey.

Up to 70 per cent of millennials aren't in a relationship but their desire to marry one day remains.

These statistics have been blamed a variety of social and cultural factors from anime to porn and women not pulling their weight.