Plymouth has been confirmed as the UK's erectile dysfunction capital after a new analysis of Google search data identified the highest rate of related queries in the country.
The findings come from a Dr SNA Clinic study that tracked searches for 12 terms connected to the condition, including "erectile dysfunction", "sildenafil" and "tadalafil", across 97 UK county and council areas. The figures were adjusted for each location's adult male population, allowing searches to be compared per 1,000 men.
Seaside city tops the rankings
In Plymouth, there were 1,640 searches for erectile dysfunction help every month, equivalent to 15.3 searches per 1,000 men – the highest rate recorded in the study.
The top 10 areas for erectile dysfunction searches per 1,000 men were:
- Plymouth – 15.3 (1,640 searches a month)
- Greater London – 14.6 (51,040 a month)
- Shetland – 14.3 (130 a month)
- Orkney – 13.7 (120 a month)
- Glasgow – 13.5 (3,530 a month)
- Devon – 13.2 (4,430 a month)
- Dorset – 12.4 (1,930 a month)
- Bristol – 12.3 (2,470 a month)
- Buckinghamshire – 12.2 (2,650 a month)
- East Sussex – 12.2 (2,630 a month)
South West emerges as a hotspot
The data highlighted the South West of England as a particular hotspot, with Devon also appearing on the list.
Nationally, men in the UK make more than 222,000 erectile dysfunction-related searches every month, averaging roughly one every 12 seconds. That adds up to more than 2.6 million searches a year in the UK alone.
Erectile dysfunction is understood to affect around half of men over the age of 40 to some degree.
Experts say many men suffer in silence
Despite the number of men affected, many avoid raising the issue due to embarrassment. Dr Syed Nadeem Abbas, intimate health expert at Dr SNA Clinic, said:
"Erectile dysfunction is one of the most common conditions I see, and one of the least talked about. These figures show huge numbers of men are quietly looking for answers online every month."
