Armagh has placed ahead of Belfast in a nationwide comparison of sexual wellness purchases, ranking 77th in Lovehoney’s UK-wide analysis. The result puts 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. Its analysis examined one year of sales data from 698 towns across the UK and was based on purchasing patterns, rather than responses to a survey.
How Armagh compared with Belfast and other towns
Armagh’s overall position was substantially higher than Belfast, which ranked 206th in the UK table. However, Armagh was not the highest-performing location in Northern Ireland.
Enniskillen was the top-ranked Northern Ireland town, taking eighth place nationally. Dungannon followed in 14th, with Ballyclare 17th, Ballymena 28th and Newry 31st. Ballymoney also recorded a strong result, ranking 37th overall.
The supplied results do not provide a detailed category breakdown for Armagh, so the city’s 77th-place overall ranking is the main comparison available to local readers.
Category results from Northern Ireland
Several Northern Ireland towns performed particularly strongly 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 17th-place overall ranking was accompanied by category 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’s 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.