We only have FIVE real friends

On average, women have around 300 Facebook friends but most also admit that they can count their real friends on one hand.

Most of these friends are from school, work or the school gates.

But according to a new survey which quizzed women between the ages of 18 and 35, women may have an average 338 Facebook friends the average number of true friends is just five, with some women admitting they have only one and others claiming to have up to 12.

True friends are those that can be turned to in an emergency, those you can talk to about anything, those who are a shoulder to cry on and those that support and love you unconditionally.

The qualities the respondents looked for in a true friend were loyalty, trustworthiness, honesty, discretion, reliability and like-mindedness. 

All of these qualities were chosen by at least 90% of the women when they were asked to pick out the attributes that make up a true friend.

74% of the women had a true friend they had grown up with, while 67% had met at school or university.

Almost half, 46%, had met a true friend at work, while 33% had done so through a shared interest and 29% said they had met a friend through their children.