According to a survey conducted in 2016, the average age for unmarried South Korean women aged between 27 and 29 years to lose their virginity was **** years in 2016. Around ** percent of these respondents reported having sexual intercourse in the last year.
Young and single
South Korean singles in their *** do not want to get married for various reasons, the leading one being wanting to focus more on themselves. The proportion of youth who believe it is possible to live together before marriage has increased over the past years, supporting the trend of South Koreans moving away from traditional social values and roles. Women in particular have rejected the idea of marriage, largely due to gendered family roles which places an expectation on them to do a greater share of the housework and be largely responsible for childcare.
Another aspect that is potentially preventing young South Koreans from getting married is the high cost of weddings. Many see weddings as an unnecessary financial burden. Combined with less social pressure to marry, they are happy to remain unwed. Only half of South Korea’s single population in their *** are planning on getting married in the future.
In a survey conducted between 2013 and 2015, the average age for South Korean teenage girls in the third grade of high school to lose their virginity was **** years (based on the South Korean age system in which a new-born baby is considered as one-year-old). According to the same survey, around **** percent of females in this age bracket had ever had sexual intercourse.
Sexuality in South Korea
Many different factors have shaped the way sexuality is considered across the country. From traditional cultural norms generally accepted by the older generation, to the recent surge of liberalism and westernization – sexual education and sexual behavior have been highly debated topics among South Koreans and continue to be to this day.
Sexual education for teenagers in South Korea has become known for being problematic - not all teenage girls participated in sexual education programs as part of their schooling, and there has been some backlash on the quality of sexual education received by all students. Only half of sexually active teens stated that they always use contraception when having sex.
In 2019, South Korea decriminalized abortion – a move that was praised as moving towards a positive direction for women’s rights and health within the country. Decriminalizing pregnancy termination is particularly important for adolescents - around ** percent of teenage girls who had been pregnant reported having an abortion.
This statistic depicts the results of a survey conducted in 2017 in Japan asking female university students about the main reasons for not having experienced sexual intercourse yet. During the surveyed period, the leading reason for sexual inexperience among female university students in Japan was the lack of a partner, while 8.6 percent of female respondents considered premarital sex wrong and therefore remained virgin.
The survey conducted in 2024 shows that most Poles had sex several times a month — 30 percent of women and 34 percent of men.
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According to a survey conducted in 2016, the average age for unmarried South Korean women aged between 27 and 29 years to lose their virginity was **** years in 2016. Around ** percent of these respondents reported having sexual intercourse in the last year.
Young and single
South Korean singles in their *** do not want to get married for various reasons, the leading one being wanting to focus more on themselves. The proportion of youth who believe it is possible to live together before marriage has increased over the past years, supporting the trend of South Koreans moving away from traditional social values and roles. Women in particular have rejected the idea of marriage, largely due to gendered family roles which places an expectation on them to do a greater share of the housework and be largely responsible for childcare.
Another aspect that is potentially preventing young South Koreans from getting married is the high cost of weddings. Many see weddings as an unnecessary financial burden. Combined with less social pressure to marry, they are happy to remain unwed. Only half of South Korea’s single population in their *** are planning on getting married in the future.