Indians seem to be leading the world in porn consumption, reporting a 95 per cent spike in traffic to adult sites during the three-week lockdown.

Data show the country, the fastest-growing smartphone market, registered a 20 per cent jump in consuming porn content even before the official restrictions kicked in late March.

Although several Indian telecom operators have blocked a number of adult sites, their content still can be accessed on mirror domains.

Released by Pornhub, the world's biggest porn site, the statistics delivered insights into consumption patterns since the coronavirus pandemic induced quarantines and lockdowns across the world.

Let us take a peek at what India, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA are up to.

[Figure 1: Web traffic spikes in France, Germany, Italy & Russia]

Much of Europe has been under heavy lockdowns for almost a month now.

Pornhub statistics show an immediate jump of 40 per cent in France when the country had its official lockdown period set in on March 17.

A similar picture played out in Germany where the official lockdown date of March 22 coincided with a 25 per cent increase in traffic to adult sites.

Italy was the worst-hit nation in the world outside China in early March. The country's March 9 lockdown period saw a 55 per cent hike in consumption of adult content.

This was also the first time adult sites started offering free subscriptions to their viewers.

A further hike on April 2 corresponds with Italy's decree that all Covid-19-related restrictions will remain in effect until April 13.

In Russia, the official lockdown period started on March 30, a week after Moscow's mayor ordered all residents over 65 to self-isolate at home.

The next day, Chechnya closed all restaurants, cafes and crowded places. On March 25, Russia closed down all cinemas and night clubs. During all these developments, the country's web traffic to adult sites registered an increase of 56 per cent.

Figure 2: Web traffic spikes in South Korea, Spain, Switzerland & USA

South Korea did not have complete lockdowns like most of the other nations in focus. So, the viewership stats do not see major spikes. The South Korean traffic to adult sites remained constant throughout March and start of April.

Spain, like its close European counterparts, had similar spikes as soon as it ordered a complete lockdown on March 14. Pornhub data suggest the Spanish traffic went up above 60 per cent during the period.

Switzerland's web traffic to porn sites increased around 25 from the start of the nationwide lockdown on March 19.

The American traffic to pornography shows multiple spikes, corresponding with restrictions the states ordered.

Figure 3: Web traffic spikes in India

(The writer is a Singapore-based Open Source Intelligence analyst)