How many people should you sleep with before settling down?

Everyone knows their ‘number’, but how does yours measure up?

A new survey claims to have found the ideal number of sexual partners we should aim to have before tying the knot.

The Telegraph reports that men and women who participated in the survey agreed on a “goldilocks” number of sexual partners – in other words, a number that wasn’t “too hot” or “too cold”, but rather, just right.

And that number? 10.

People with less than 10 partners under their belt were considered inexperienced, while those with more were thought to be too promiscuous.

The poll was the brainchild of IllicitEncounters.com, and spokesman Christian Grant said the results were surprising.

“The dating game is changing so quickly. I think we are all becoming a lot more tolerant and sexually adventurous," he said.

“If we had conducted this poll ten years ago, men would have expected a potential partner to have slept with far fewer people.

“But a gentlemen never asks a woman who many men she has slept with.”

One of the women who participated in the poll explained why 10 was the perfect number: "You want to date a man who is confident and knows what he is doing sexually.”

The survey also revealed that men were more concerned than women if their partner's number was more than 10.

Other interesting finding include the fact that only 35 per cent of females wished to know their partner's number, compared to 30 per cent of men.

And both men and women agreed that a number greater than 20 was a huge turn off.

Of course, everyone is unique and at the end of the day, a number shouldn't matter all that much.

But it sure does make fascinating reading.

What do you think is the perfect number of sexual partners?