Roughly 1% of the general population identifies as asexual, a figure that has held relatively steady across multiple large-scale studies since the early 2000s. That translates to tens of millions of people worldwide, making asexuality about as common as natural red hair. The actual number is likely higher, since many people who experience little or no sexual attraction have never encountered the term or don’t use it as a label.
Where the 1% Estimate Comes From
The most widely cited figure traces back to a 2004 analysis by psychologist Anthony Bogaert, who examined a probability sample of over 18,000 British residents. Among them, 1% reported never feeling sexually attracted to anyone. Later studies using similar nationally representative samples in other countries have landed in the same range, generally between 0.5% and 1.5% depending on how the question is worded.
Surveys that ask about identity rather than attraction sometimes produce slightly different numbers. When you ask people whether they “identify as asexual,” fewer respond yes than when you describe the experience of not feeling sexual attraction and ask if it applies to them. This gap suggests that awareness of the label matters. As public understanding of asexuality has grown, identification rates in younger age groups have climbed noticeably.
Higher Rates Among Younger People
Among LGBTQ youth specifically, the numbers are significantly higher. A Trevor Project survey of over 40,000 LGBTQ young people found that 10% identified as asexual or on the asexual spectrum. That figure reflects a population already thinking about sexual orientation in nuanced terms, so it captures people who might go unlabeled in a broader survey.
Gallup polling and similar general-population surveys of Gen Z adults consistently show higher rates of asexual identification compared to millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers. This doesn’t necessarily mean more young people are asexual in an absolute biological sense. It more likely reflects greater awareness and a cultural environment where the identity is visible and named. Someone born in 1960 who never experienced sexual attraction may have simply assumed something was wrong with them, or never thought to apply a specific word to their experience.
The Asexual Spectrum
Asexuality isn’t a single, uniform experience. The “ace spectrum” includes people who feel no sexual attraction at all, people who feel it only rarely (sometimes called gray-asexual), and people who develop sexual attraction only after forming a deep emotional bond (demisexual). When surveys include the full spectrum rather than only strict asexuality, prevalence estimates rise, sometimes reaching 3% to 4% in younger populations.
This spectrum model helps explain why prevalence figures vary so much between studies. A survey asking “Are you asexual?” captures a narrower group than one asking “How often do you experience sexual attraction?” with response options ranging from “never” to “frequently.”
Asexuality and Romantic Attraction
One common misconception is that asexual people don’t want relationships. Most do. A combined analysis of over 4,000 asexual individuals published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that 74% reported experiencing romantic attraction. These people desire emotional closeness, partnership, and sometimes physical affection. They simply don’t experience the sexual component of attraction, or experience it very differently.
Among asexual people in that study, romantic orientation varied widely: 26.4% were heteroromantic (romantically attracted to a different gender), 38.3% were biromantic (attracted to more than one gender), 4.9% were homoromantic (attracted to the same gender), and 25.3% were aromantic, meaning they didn’t experience romantic attraction either. The remaining 5.1% described their romantic orientation in other terms. This diversity underscores that sexual attraction and romantic attraction operate independently for many people.
Why Prevalence Is Hard to Pin Down
Counting asexual people precisely is difficult for several reasons. First, many people who fit the description don’t know the word exists. Awareness of asexuality lags far behind awareness of other sexual orientations, and without a label, people are unlikely to show up in surveys that rely on self-identification.
Second, asexuality can be confused with low libido, which is a medical symptom, or with celibacy, which is a behavioral choice. Asexuality is neither. It describes a stable pattern of not experiencing sexual attraction, regardless of whether someone has a sex drive or chooses to have sex. Some asexual people do have sex for various reasons, including pleasing a partner or wanting children, without feeling the pull of sexual attraction.
Third, cultural and religious contexts shape how people interpret their own experiences. In communities where sexual restraint is valued, a person who feels no sexual attraction may see themselves as disciplined rather than asexual. In highly sexualized cultures, the same person might feel broken. Neither framing captures what’s actually happening, which is simply a different pattern of attraction that appears to be stable across the lifespan for most people who experience it.
Gender Differences in Identification
Most large surveys find that women and nonbinary people identify as asexual at higher rates than men. Whether this reflects a genuine difference in prevalence or a difference in willingness to adopt the label remains an open question. Men face particular social pressure to demonstrate sexual interest, which may make them less likely to recognize or disclose an absence of it. Community surveys from asexual organizations consistently show that their membership skews heavily toward women and gender-diverse individuals, though this could also reflect who seeks out those communities rather than who is actually asexual.