Swingers in Germany: Sociodemography and Event Preferences Assessed From Harvested Web Data

This exploratory study investigates Germany's heterosexual swinger community within the consensual non-monogamy spectrum using anonymous data harvested in September and October 2023 from a leading online platform focused on sexual exploration. It comprises two parts: the first examines anonymized profiles from self-declared swingers, totaling 22,973 individuals, revealing a mature demographic with median ages of 44 for women and 46 for men. Challenging conventional stereotypes, clear correlations between swinger prevalence and regional socioeconomic factors were not shown despite high regional variations. The second study assesses 14,008 attendees at 82 categorized swinger events, highlighting a preference for sex-focused events in all age strata. Challenging the prevalent men-centric perspective, it identified events strongly focused on women's preferences, particularly those targeting younger men as partners. Reduced pricing for women did not correlate with their increased attendance, questioning the effectiveness of such pricing strategies in the light of gender equality. Events also combined sexual activities with additional social elements and attracted attendees from greater distances, indicating high commitment to the community lifestyle. The study revealed a notable presence of solo women in the German scene, contradicting earlier findings from other countries. The study results offer a nuanced understanding of the swinger community in Germany, emphasizing gender dynamics and regional influences.