Overview

• Researchers at Amsterdam UMC analyzed UK Biobank data alongside an Australian cohort and reported the findings in PNAS, identifying roughly 1% of adults as lifelong sexless.
• Common genetic variation explained about 14–17% of differences in sexlessness, with no single gene driving the trait.
• Genetic correlations pointed to overlaps with higher education and measured intelligence, as well as introversion, autism spectrum disorder and anorexia, and inverse links with alcohol and drug disorders and some mood conditions.
• Men were more likely to be sexless in UK regions with fewer women, and sexlessness was higher in areas with greater income inequality for both sexes.
• Men who had never had sex tended to show lower upper‑body strength, and across genders sexless individuals reported more loneliness and lower happiness alongside lower alcohol and drug use.