Men have an average of ten sexual partners in their lifetime while women have fewer than, according to a new UK government survey.

The survey also reveals that the average age of first sexual intercourse is 17, which is the same as in Ireland for younger people, according to a 2006 ESRI report called The Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships.

The British survey also shows that one in four women have only ever had one sexual partner, compared with 17 per cent of men.

In addition, it reveals that only 1.8pc of women and 1.6pc of men have had a sexual partner of the same sex in the last five years. Two and a half percent of men and 2.7 percent of women have ever had a same-sex sexual partner.

In Ireland, 2pc of men and 1pc of women say they are only or mostly homosexual.

Twenty percent of men and 14pc of women said they first had sex before the age of 16.

Among 55 to 69-year-olds, the figure was lower with only 15 per cent of men and four per cent of women saying they first had sex under the age of 16.

The median age at first sex with someone of the opposite sex was 17 for both men and women. The median age at first intercourse declined from 18 among men and women aged 55-69 to 17 for men and 16 for women aged 16-24.

Eight percent of men and 12pc of women say they have been tested for an STI.

One in five women aged 16-24 have used the Morning-After-Pill in the last year compared with an average of 7pc.

One in 10 young people said they had had 10 or more sexual partners.

But a quarter of women and a third of men aged 16 to 24 said they have not yet had sex.

The health survey also found obesity among adults is at its highest level since 1993 while 16 per cent of men and 17 per cent of women had been diagnosed with asthma.

Over 6,000 people took part in the survey