A study by a team of psychologists in which they sampled 645 women from 20 different countries was conducted to find out the average time it takes a woman to climax.
Discover our latest podcast
How was the study conducted?
The woman who participated in the survey were aged between 21 and 40 and all were in heterosexual relationships that lasted an average of seven years—with two thirds of them married while the rest were cohabiting. To complete the research, the women were asked to engage in sexual intercourse with their partner and time how long it would take for them to have an orgasm from the moment they moved from foreplay to intercourse.
For the women who were able to have an orgasm, the time it took for them to climax ranged between six and 20 minutes, with the average being 14 minutes.
Less than a third could climax
Shockingly, only less than a third of the 645 women who participated in the eight-week-long study reported being able to reach orgasm. In particular, 69% never reached climax by engaging in intercourse alone over the course of the study.
According to researchers, there was no particular trend in those who were unable to climax; their age, education, income, marital status, relationship duration or frequency of intercourse did not affect their ability (or lack thereof) of having an orgasm.
But it's not all bad news... The research also found that though intercourse was not always conducive to euphoric pleasure, an array of other non-penetrative activities could lead to orgasms.
In other words, the penis is not the driving force behind female pleasure. Instead, other ways of attaining a female orgasm should be prioritised, with particular emphasis on manual and oral play.