According to the report, 26 million individuals viewed adult material in September 2020 with PornHub being the top porn site visited most among other adult content sites.

The popular site was visited by 15 million people, – 50% of men, and 16% of women

“It has been reported that economic factors caused by the lockdowns may have led people to turn to sites such as OnlyFans to generate an income, in the context of rising unemployment or furlough, and financial uncertainty for many in the UK,” Ofcom said in its research report.

The research found a huge rise in appetite for adult content among younger age groups, with a third of young women and three-quarters of young men visiting PornHub in the four weeks covered by the research. 

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PornHub’s claims that the average UK visitor spent 10 minutes and 20 seconds on the site were also alluded to in Ofcom’s report to back its findings.

Theguardian.com quoted Yih-Choung Teh, Ofcom’s director of strategy and research as saying: “In an unprecedented year, we’ve seen a real acceleration in our migration to online services – which, for many people, have provided a lifeline in lockdown. This research is critical to keep pace with these changes in technology, economics and behaviour, as we prepare to take on new responsibilities for regulating online safety.”

Ofcom’s annual report on the country’s online media consumption habits has always focused on mainstream sites such as Facebook and YouTube but the agency decided to widen its scope this year due to how the pandemic has altered people’s way of life.