The Greek economic crisis has been accompanied by a sexual crisis as libidos drop even lower than Greek bonds. The Institute of Psychological and Sexual Health has been monitoring how fiscal adjustments have affected the sexual lives of Greeks from 2011 onwards and has found that cash-strapped Greeks near celibacy levels.

“After three years of study of the consequence of the recession on Greek sex lives we can say that the cost of the crisis was high for both genders, however the crisis literally crushed men. His ineptitude to deal with the demands of the economic crisis, reduction in earnings and increased unemployment have made him feel weak and exposed to females, as well as unable to live up to the demands of a relationship and family life,” says celebrity sexologist Thanos Askitis, who heads the institute. He says that the crisis has struck at “masculinity” and has affected Greece’s male population.

At the start of the study in the second half of 2011, 54% of male respondents said they had satisfactory sex lives. The figure dropped to 29% two years later.

As far as women are concerned, 49% claim that the economic crisis has negatively influenced their eroticism with 10% claiming to have stopped having sex altogether. In the first six months of 2012 the women whose economic crisis has spilled into their sex lives lifted from 49% to 56%.

The good news is that the promised economic recovery in 2014 will bring improvements to the bedroom.