TOKYO: The Japanese are the least satisfied with their sex and romantic lives, closely followed by South Koreans, according to a global survey carried out by a French research firm.

The two Asian rivals are grappling with a similar demographic crisis, with chronically – and dangerously, as authorities warn – low birth rates.

The 31-country survey by Paris-based Ipsos showed this week that only 37 percent of Japanese respondents are satisfied with sex and love, compared with 76 percent of top-ranked Indians and Mexicans.

Equally unhappy are South Koreans, whose sexual satisfaction comes in second at 45 percent.

In June, Japan’s Health Ministry called the country’s birth rate “critical,” as it stood at 1.20 last year, hitting a record high for the eighth consecutive year.

But Japan’s rate remains higher than that of its Korean neighbor, which has the lowest rate in the world, at 0.72.