In a survey carried out by contraceptive-maker Durex and reported in the tabloids, Swedes say they have sex, on average, of 103 times a year. It’s warmer in Icelandic beds: they report having sex 119 times a year.

350,000 people in 41 countries answered the survey and now Durex knows not to waste much money on advertising in Japan, where they apparently have sex just 46 times a year. The most active lovers in the world are, unsurprisingly, the French. They have sex an average of 137 times per year.

“I think they’re lying,” said Freddy Nordsten, 23, to Expressen. “They don’t have more sex than Swedes.”

Rickard Allstrin, 27, was more inclined to believe the results but couldn’t say why Swedes were so inactive compared to the French.

But while sex is apparently not an option for the housebound Swede, there is an increasingly popular alternative: on-line poker. According to Svenska Dagbladet, thousands of Swedes are gambling through the night on the Internet.

Michael Holmberg, with Internet gambling company Expect, told SvD: “Profits (on internet poker) are expected to increase by about 27 per cent a month.”

Expect is a Swedish-owned company based in Malta. Its competitors, Betsson, Unibet and Ladbrokes see a similar pattern. Up to six thousand players are simultaneously on-line every night.

Some of the best players in the world are Scandinavians, including Martin de Knijff, who recently won the World Poker Tour in Las Vegas, worth 21 million Swedish crowns.