When even their president is being caught sneaking around behind his partner's back, it is perhaps not surprising to find the French topping a poll for infidelity, alongside the equally hot-blooded Italians.

More than one in two men - 55 percent - from France and Italy admitted to cheating on their partners, along with one in three women.

The poll by IFOP (French Institute of Public Opinion), released Wednesday, comes just a few weeks after French President Francois Hollande was snapped leaving the home of actress Julie Gayet while on a scooter.

The photos led to the collapse­ of his relationship with long-time partner Valerie Trierweiler and a torrent of worldwide comment about French attitudes towards infidelity.

The pollsters suggested a link between bed-hopping and religion, saying there was less evidence of cheating­ in "majority Protestant" countries.­

Only 42 percent of Britons and 46 percent in Germany admitted to having an affair at some point in their lives.

Infidelity is most evenly distributed between the sexes in Germany, where 43 percent of women admit to having had an affair. That compares with 34 percent in Italy, 32 percent in France and 29 percent in Britain.