Christmas is sold to us as peak romance.
Cosy nights in, fairy lights, mistletoe moments... Not to mention all of those romantic Christmas movies that will have you believing that if you're a big-time city girl, going back to your hometown for Christmas you'll find your true love.
In reality?
For a lot of us, desire quietly packs a bag and slips out the back door sometime around mid-December.
Not because something is “wrong” with our desire, but because Christmas is uniquely good at killing libido. And any kind of self control we have around chocolate.
Here’s what the research actually shows, and why New Year’s flips the switch back on.
Christmas isn’t a libido booster, it’s a stress test
Data from the period-tracking app Clue, analysed by researchers at Stanford and collaborators, looked at anonymous sexual activity logs from over 500,000 women across multiple countries.
The finding was clear: reported sexual activity drops in the three days before 25th December.
And honestly? It tracks.
Because Christmas is:
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mental load on steroids
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endless logistics
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shared houses, thin walls, spare rooms
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social performance mode, not body mode
Desire doesn’t thrive under obligation.
It needs space, privacy, and permission, and Christmas offers very little of any of those.
So if your libido vanishes somewhere between wrapping paper and Brussels sprouts, it’s not broken. It’s just overwhelmed.
Meanwhile… we’re thinking about sex more than ever
Here’s the twist.
While actual sex drops, interest in sex goes up around Christmas. A large international study analysing Google search data and social media behaviour across more than 130 countries found that online searches related to sex peak around major cultural holidays, including Christmas.
These spikes appear:
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across hemispheres
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regardless of temperature or daylight
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aligned with cultural events, not seasons
This suggests Christmas increases sexual curiosity, fantasy, and mental engagement, even if real-world behaviour doesn’t immediately follow.
In other words: people are thinking about sex more, but they're just not necessarily having it. Yet anyway.
Why New Year’s brings your libido back
It was a surprise for us too.
The same researched that showed a Christmas dip also revealed something else:
sexual activity spikes sharply around New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Which we kind of get given:
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work pressure eases
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family obligations drop off
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people have more privacy and autonomy
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alcohol, celebration, and novelty increase
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there’s a psychological sense of “reset”
New Year’s combines permission, privacy, and possibility.
The exact three things desire thrives on.
This is why researchers often describe the festive period as a dip-then-surge pattern rather than a single seasonal peak.
What this means for your sex life
If you feel:
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less in the mood during Christmas week
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more interested in sex than able to act on it
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suddenly more connected or horny around New Year
You’re not imagining it, it's completely normal. The data says so.
TL;DR
Research shows sexual activity often drops in the days leading up to Christmas, even though interest in sex increases. Stress, exhaustion, lack of privacy, and mental load can suppress libido during the festive period.
Once Christmas pressure eases, sexual activity rebounds around New Year’s, when people have more time, autonomy, and a psychological sense of reset.
In short: it’s not your libido, it’s Christmas.
References
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Clue / Stanford University research (reported by The Guardian)
Sex at Christmas tends to be off menu until fireworks at New Year – study
The Guardian, 22 December 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/22/sex-at-christmas-tends-to-be-off-menu-until-fireworks-at-new-year-study -
Clue app data analysis (reported by The Independent)
Sex dips at Christmas but spikes at New Year, study finds
The Independent, 2020
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/sex-christmas-new-year-study-b1777654.html -
Clue app data analysis (reported by Business Insider)
Why your sex drive dips at Christmas and spikes at New Year
Business Insider, 2020
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-sex-drive-dips-at-christmas-spikes-new-year-2020-12 -
Clue — Our Year in Cycles (annual data report)
Our Year in Cycles 2025
Clue, 2025
https://helloclue.com/articles/about-clue/our-year-in-cycles-2025 -
Scientific Reports (Nature)
Wood, S., et al. (2017). Sexual interest peaks during cultural celebrations.
Scientific Reports, 7, 18262
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-18262-5 -
ScienceDaily summary of global sexual interest study
Study finds online interest in sex rises at Christmas and other holidays
ScienceDaily, December 2017
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171221101335.htm