Measuring an average time to ejaculation is not a straightforward matter. What about just asking people how long they take, you say? Well, there are two main problems with this. One is that people are likely to be biased upwards in their time estimates, because it’s socially desirable to say you go long into the night.

The other problem is that people don’t necessarily know how long they go for. Sex isn’t something people normally do while monitoring the bedside clock, and unassisted time estimation may be difficult during a transportation session of love-making.

Online sex toy company, LoveHoney, conducted a survey to find out the ideal amount of time most people would like to spend between the sheets.

After the results were averaged, 30 minutes was declared the optimum length of time.

The survey of 4,400 people revealed that half of couples (52%) are happy with that duration but sex is over too soon for 23 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women.It also showed that many settle for quickies, failing to make time for a proper intimate session 21 per cent of the time. Typically sex for most couples lasts for 19 minutes, broken down by ten minutes of foreplay and nine minutes of intercourse.

The dream 30-minute time might be a source of frustration for some couples though.Last year, sex researchers Masters and Johnson revealed that men orgasm a lot quicker than women. Despite this, the LoveHoney study showed that almost 90% of couples have achieved a shared orgasms at some point in their relationship.Lovehoney have launched a Mind The Gap campaign to promote ways that women in particular can achieve more orgasms during sex.

Sexpert Jess Wilde said: “It is fantastic news that almost 90% of couples have achieved shared orgasms at some point in their relationship.

“For around half of couples this is the absolute peak of sexual happiness, so we are always looking at ways to help them share orgasms together with greater consistency.

“For women, the key to orgasming easily is to have a strong and healthy pelvic floor, and there are simple exercises they can do to strengthen the muscles in this area.”

She added: “Men can play their part during intercourse by making sure they hit exactly the right spot to stimulate the G-Spot during penetration – this is at 27-degrees and sex pillows can help to get you both into the optimum pose for pleasure.”