Playful South Africans have put the country on the global kinky map. Their Google searches for sex toys are the third highest in the world.So says the Statistic Brain Research Institute, which released its latest data on the global sex toy industry, revealing that after the US and the UK, South Africa registered the third-highest number of Google searches for adult toys.Globally, the sex toy industry is valued at $15-billion (about R240-billion), with 70% of toys manufactured in China, which exports at least 20% of its products to South Africa.Sex toys are in such high demand that South Africans are even buying them on credit.Jason Sive, founder and director of South Africa's only online credit store, said Mobicred financed more than R100000 worth of sex toys every month.Jo Kotze, the owner of www.sugerplum.co.za, said the industry was booming as "more couples were exploring toys to improve their bedroom lives".She said the average shopper spent more than a R1000.Bonnie Brunton, co-owner of The Bedroom, a boutique for women in Umhlanga, said her clients spent between R1000 and R7000 on high-end sex toys."Our boutiques perform better than our online stores because most clients want the experience of coming into the store and want to learn about the product."Some are shy when they first arrive, while others walk in and know exactly what they want," she said. The franchise, which has a boutique in Parkhurst, Johannesburg, is opening a new store in Cape Town."Demand continues to grow. People want to spice up their lives and there really is nothing wrong with that."Sex is something that we don't talk openly about, but that doesn't mean that people are not researching and exploring ways to try new things," Brunton said.Statistic Brain found that the vibrator is the most popular toy bought online and that New Zealand holds the world's highest percentage of vibrator ownership, at 38%.A Cape Town sex toy "collector" said she bought her first sex toy at 26 and the second was a gift from an old flame when she turned 30."Why did I buy a toy? I was single and I don't believe in one-night stands. Sexual frustration cannot be relieved by running alone. As a woman you have to take charge of your sexual urges," she said...