‘Hentai’ was the most-used search term on Pornhub in 2021, according to the MindGeek-owned site’s end of year wrap-up for 2021.

According to the data, hentai – Japanese-style animated porn – was followed by the search terms ‘romance’ then ‘group sex’ in the 2021 run-down’s top three. Hentai was Pornhub’s second-most popular search term in 2018, but didn’t make the top ten search term list in 2019 (Pornhub didn’t release a wrap-up in 2020), suggesting that there’s been a leap in its popularity over the past couple of years.

Japan’s cultural grip on porn was also reflected in Pornhub’s category use chart for 2021. The most viewed category on the site for the year was ‘Japanese’, with ‘Hentai’ the fourth most popular category. ‘Lesbian’, ‘Ebony’ and ‘MILF’ completed the category chart top five.

Also storming the charts were search terms including the word ‘trans’: a rise that occurred in tandem with increased public awareness and media coverage of transgender issues. ‘Trans’ was the seventh most-used Pornhub search term in 2021, with the site saying there was a 141 percent increase in its use. Pornhub’s ‘Transgender’ category was the tenth most-watched category by male users on the site.

Pornhub’s data dump also suggested that porn users are taking more of an interest in becoming better lovers. Use of the search term ‘how to’ grew by 245 percent, clocking in at number ten on the search term chart.

Searches made using the phrase included enquiries about how to ‘eat pussy’, ‘suck dick’, ‘make a dildo’ and ‘shave balls’.

Global wellness and fitness trends seem to have had an influence on the world of hardcore pornography, too. The search term ‘fitness’ was fourth in the 2021 chart, marking a growth of 65 percent year-on-year. Searches for porn related to yoga and the gym were also up.

Pornhub’s stats showed that although most users were male, 35 percent were female: a rise of one percentage point, year-on-year. The average age of a Pornhub user in 2021 was 37, a rise of one year since 2020.

The proportion of Pornhub users that were in the 18-24 age bracket was 25 percent, representing a drop of one percent year-on-year.

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