Armagh has ranked ahead of Belfast in a nationwide comparison of sexual wellness purchases, taking 77th place in Lovehoney’s UK-wide analysis.
The result places the city among the Northern Ireland locations included in the company’s comparison of consumer purchasing trends. Lovehoney published the ranking on 22 August 2026, using one year of sales data from 698 towns across the UK.
The company said the analysis was based on purchasing patterns rather than responses to a survey. That means Armagh’s position reflects recorded buying behaviour in the data, not the results of a questionnaire about residents’ habits.
How Armagh compared with Belfast
Armagh ranked substantially higher than Belfast, which was placed 206th in the UK table. However, the city was not the highest-performing location in Northern Ireland.
Enniskillen was the region’s top-ranked town, taking eighth place nationally. Dungannon followed in 14th, while Ballyclare came 17th, Ballymena 28th and Newry 31st. Ballymoney also recorded a strong result, ranking 37th overall.
The supplied results do not include a detailed category breakdown for Armagh. As a result, the city’s 77th-place overall position is the main comparison available to local readers.
Northern Ireland category results
Several other Northern Ireland towns featured prominently in individual purchasing categories. Ballymoney ranked 14th nationally for anal sex toy purchases, 18th for vibrators and 20th for strap-ons.
Enniskillen, described in the report as having a population of about 14,000, ranked fourth nationally for butt plug purchases, ninth for vibrators and 14th for role-play products.
Ballyclare’s overall ranking was accompanied by positions of 14th for strap-ons, 15th for bondage, 20th for vibrators, 17th for butt plugs and 23rd for anal sex toys.
Ballymena was especially prominent in fantasy and role-play-related categories. Its residents ranked 27th nationally for strap-ons, 35th for vibrators and 40th for bondage. The analysis also named the Fruity Lubricant Trio as the town’s favourite lubricant.
What the Lovehoney map measures
Lovehoney said its interactive map allows users to compare their town with locations across the UK. Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire topped the table for per-capita purchases, ranking first for vibrators and third for strap-ons.
Londonderry was not included in the survey. Lovehoney sex and relationship expert Annabelle Knight said:
“Sexual wellness doesn’t only exist in big cities, it’s for everyone. Our data often shows strong engagement from smaller communities, where people may value the privacy, choice, and convenience of shopping online. It’s always great to see pleasure alive and well in every corner of the UK, and the sex map is a reminder that sometimes the most unexpected places have the most interesting stories to tell.”
The findings were reported by the Belfast Telegraph on Sunday, 23 August 2026. Armagh Journal’s supplied material contains conflicting timestamps for its own report, so the publication and update times should be treated with caution.