Today (December 9), Pornhub publishes its annual Year In Review. The report unpacks a year’s worth of data from the most visited porn site in the world, identifying emerging trends, the most-searched terms, best performing categories, most popular performers, and more. Read on for a rare insight into global porn habits.

EMBRACING NATURAL BEAUTY

According to Pornhub’s data, MILF porn is consistently one of the most popular genres on the site. But over the past 12 months, interest in this trend has grown: “milf” was the second most searched term worldwide (for the fifth year in a row, “hentai” remains the most searched).

This year also saw increases in searches for “hot milf” (up 77 per cent), “cougar” (up 83 per cent), “gilf” (up 129 per cent), and “50 plus” (up 105 per cent). Relatedly, the Mature category was the 5th most viewed category worldwide.

Other popular searches included “natural beauty” (up 124 per cent), “real woman” (up 98 per cent), and “no make-up”(up 136 per cent).

“There’s a growing interest in ‘realness’, age and naturalism. The rise of ‘mature women,’ ‘natural beauty,’ ‘real woman,’ and ‘no makeup’ indicates a craving for more grounded, ‘real life’ attractiveness,” says Dakota Ramppen, a contributor to the Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center, educator, and relationship coach. “In a way, this pushes society toward body positivity and realistic beauty standards.”

FORBIDDEN FANTASIES

One of 2025’s viral moments – the Coldplay concert CEO scandal – penetrated our porn habits this year, “office affair” searches increased 210 per cent, and “CEO” 388 per cent.

Relatedly, searches for “cheating” were up 94 per cent, “cheating wife” up  61 per cent, “caught cheating” up 53 per cent, and “sneaky cheating” up 148 per cent. “Cuckold” was up 73 per cent, “hotwife” was up 101 per cent, “swingers” was up 68 per cent, and “wife swap” was up 39 per cent.

“What trends in our culture tends to take on a sexual interest,” says Dr Laurie Betito, broadcaster, author, therapist, speaker and creator of two TEDx Talks, and the captain of the ship at the Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center. “For this year, it was the Coldplay concert scandal. Power dynamics also come into play here, where boss/employee relationships are eroticised. These fantasies are powerful because of the risky and taboo nature of these types of relationships”.

What trends in our culture tends to take on a sexual interest

LGBTQ+ PORN IS ON THE UP

This year, “lesbian” emerged as the top category on Pornhub. Searches for “lesbian MILF” grew by 129 per cent, “lesbian scissoring” 79 per cent, and “lesbian strapon” 62 per cent.

“Transgender” was the second most viewed category of the year, with search terms “trans threesome” growing by 67 per cent and “trans amateur” by 49 per cent.

Relatedly, searches for “queer” were up 132 per cent, and “bisexual” 88 per cent.

“REAL LIFE, BUT SPICIER”

This year saw a rise in roleplay-related searches, with the Role Play category rising in popularity by 98 per cent.

Viewers were particularly interested in job-themed videos: for example, searches for the term “driver” were up 144 per cent, “plumber” 67 per cent, “chef” 39 per cent, and “professor” 33 per cent. It’s clear people were keen for porn which explored power dynamics too: “boss” grew 175 per cent, “cop” 54 per cent, and “soldier” 41 per cent. Searches for “employee” also grew 183 per cent.

“People want stories, structure, power dynamics,” says Ramppen. “The spike in role play categories suggest viewers are craving scenarios that feel more like ‘real life, but spicier.’ It’s less about pure sex, more about context — taboo, authority play, everyday fantasies.”

ID REQUIREMENTS MAY HAVE CHANGED UK VIEWERS’ HABITS

This year, after the Online Safety Act became law in the UK, all websites which host pornographic material were made to introduce “robust” age-checking for their visitors. This meant that, from July 25, anyone visiting Pornhub in the UK was required to send off their ID to verify that they were over 18.

This year, UK fell three spots to #8 among Pornhub’s Top 20 countries by traffic. The UK also recorded the lowest share of female viewers globally, at just 25 per cent. It’s unclear whether there’s a direct correlation between this decline and the new laws, but it seems eminently possible.

At the same time, Gen Z now accounts for 47 per cent of UK traffic, one of the highest proportions globally, trailing only Egypt (50 per cent) and the Philippines (49 per cent).