A new Nordic survey shows Denmark now has the lowest condom use in the region, with just 37 percent of Danes aged 16 to 65 reporting use in the past year. The decline is sharpest among teenagers, raising fresh concern about STI risk and sexual health outreach.
Denmark has slipped to last place in the Nordic region when it comes to condom use. That is not the kind of ranking anyone wants to lead. According to the annual Kondomtjek survey by Swedish sexual health organisation RFSU, just 37 percent of Danes aged 16 to 65 used a condom in the past year. Meanwhile, condom use is rising across the rest of Scandinavia.
The pattern is especially troubling among Danish teenagers. Among 16 to 20 year olds, reported condom use fell from 65 percent in the previous year to 57 percent in 2026. Half of young Danes now say they did not use a condom the last time they had sex with a new partner, down from 61 percent the year before.
Why it matters
Condoms are the only contraceptive method that prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. When use drops, health risks rise accordingly. WHO Europe reported last year that adolescent condom use across the continent has been declining since 2014. Denmark now appears to be following that trend more sharply than its neighbours.
The decline also raises questions about whether Danish sexual health education is keeping pace with real behaviour. I have seen plenty of Danish campaigns over the years. They are frank, well designed and accessible. But if teenagers are not using condoms even with new partners, something is not connecting between the message and the moment.
Trust, alcohol and the intention gap
Danish research offers some clues. A study of Danish university students found clear links between risky behaviours like binge drinking, smoking and cannabis use, and not using condoms. That does not mean every person who skips a condom is drunk. But it does suggest condom use often fails in spontaneous or impaired situations.
Another study found that young Danes generally intend to use condoms. But intention weakens when trust builds, when sex is unplanned or when a condom is simply not available. That gap between wanting to be safe and actually being safe is where prevention efforts often fail.
Young Danes also report that suggesting a condom feels harder the second time if it was not used the first time. Once a pattern is set, breaking it takes confidence. The RFSU survey found that 64 percent of respondents see someone who suggests a condom as responsible, and 49 percent as considerate. Zero percent called it embarrassing. The social stigma, in other words, is largely imagined.
What needs to change
Sex & Samfund, Denmark’s leading sexual health organisation, plans to distribute thousands of condoms at summer festivals this year. That is a practical step. But it will not fix a structural problem. If Denmark wants to reverse this slide, sexual health messaging needs to meet young people where they actually are, not where educators hope they will be.
That means addressing the real barriers: alcohol, spontaneity, negotiation anxiety and the assumption that trust equals safety. It also means making condoms as easy to access as possible, in youth clubs, at festivals and in school clinics. Sweden is doing something right. Denmark should be willing to learn from it.
The free HPV vaccine programme showed Denmark can act decisively on sexual health when it wants to. The current condom trend suggests it is time for another push. Because landing last in the Nordic rankings is not just disappointing. It is a public health problem with measurable consequences.
Sources and References
Sex & Samfund: Ny undersøgelse: Danskerne er de dårligste i Norden til at bruge kondom
The Danish Dream: Free HPV shots for young Danish men ending
The Danish Dream: Denmark’s free HPV vaccine deadline nears expiry
The Danish Dream: The best music festivals in Copenhagen
