The dawn of the internet promised a new age where finding a sexual partner was just the click of a mouse away.
But rather than improving our romantic lives, new technology has left Britons having less sex than ever before.
A major study found there has been a steep decline in rates of intimacy since 2001, with fewer than half of Britons now having sex once a week.
Scientists said that 'life in the digital age' was partly to blame - with couples now too distracted by the internet or their phones to focus on each other.
A major study found there has been a steep decline in rates of intimacy since 2001, with fewer than half of Britons now having sex once a week
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine analysed data from 34,000 men and women aged 16 to 44 who completed a survey about their sex lives in 1991, 2001 and 2012.
It revealed that rates of sexual activity plummeted in Britain between 2001 and 2012, with the steepest declines among the over-25s and those who were married or living together.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, said the decline was due to 'the sheer pace of modern life' and that middle-aged couples juggling childcare and work were the worst affected.
It added that rising gender equality had 'extended to the sexual sphere', meaning women 'feel less obliged to meet their partner's sexual needs irrespective of their own'.
Half of all women and almost two-thirds of men said they would like to have more sex.
Scientists said rising levels of sexual frustration 'merits concern', adding that regular sexual activity is key to improving health and wellbeing.
In 2012 one in three people said they had not had sex in the past month, compared to less than one in four a decade earlier.
And the average number of times that 35 to 44-year-olds reported having sex fell from four times a month to two among women and from four to three among men.
The researchers found that couples are increasingly trapped in sexless marriages, with 15 per cent of women who were married or living with their partner reporting they had not had sex in the last month.
Loss of libido is a reduced sex drive.
Past research suggests it affects nearly half of all women at some point in their lives.
It is often linked to relationship issues, stress
