Older Malaysians bagged the prize for having the lowest rate of sexual activity in a survey of 29 countries, according to figures released here Tuesday.

The survey by Pfizer, producers of the anti-impotency drug Viagra, showed that only 52 percent of Malaysians aged between 40 and 80 had had sex in the past 12 months.

"This is quite a problem, and it can be attributed to both health and mental factors," said Low Wah Yun, a Malaysian specialist in sexual therapy who released the results.

Low said the lack of sexual activity among older Malaysians was partly due to the belief that "you shouldn't have sex when you're old".

"That's why older Malaysians need education as much, if not more than adolescents," she told reporters.

Older Chinese were the most sexually active, with a whopping 93 percent saying they had had sex in the past 12 months, followed by Italians at 83 percent.

Despite their lacklustre sex life, 65 percent of Malaysians admitted sex was very important to them and almost 60 percent said they thought about sex several times or more in a month.

500 interviewed

Among South Koreans, 87 percent said sex played a key role in their lives, followed by Italians (84 percent) and Australians (76 percent).

Hong Kong residents ranked the least romantic with only 37 percent finding sex to be important.

The survey of 26,000 people was carried out last year on between 500 and 1,500 people in each of the 29 countries and territories. In Malaysia, 500 people were interviewed.