Virginity in the Czech Republic: How do we compare with the rest of Europe when it comes to first sexual experiences?
Having sex for the first time is one of those life milestones around which society has managed to build up a surprising number of expectations. Some people experience it at fifteen, others at twenty, and others much later – and yet the notion still persists that there is a sort of ‘right age’ by which one should have had one’s first sexual experience. However, as current data show, the reality is much more varied.
Czechs most often have sex for the first time during late adolescence and, compared with their European peers, are certainly not among those who start exceptionally early. Moreover, a trend is emerging among today’s teenagers that may come as a surprise to many – the age of first sexual experience is tending to be pushed back rather than constantly getting earlier.
On average, Czech girls start earlier than Czech boys
The best current picture of the sexual lives of the Czech population is provided by the extensive, representative CZECHSEX survey conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health. In this study, the researchers focused not only on the frequency of sex, but also on first sexual experiences, relationships, dating, pornography, sexual health, violence and LGBTQ+ issues.
The results show that women in the Czech Republic have sex for the first time at an average age of 17.46, whilst men do so at 18.33. In the previous nationwide survey from 2013, however, the figures for men and women were almost identical – at that time, women reported an average age of 17.73 years and men 17.79 years.
If we look solely at today’s young adults, the figures are even slightly lower. As summarised in the Czech Statistical Office’s magazine *Statistika & My*, women aged 18 to 25 who have already had sexual experience report having their first sexual experience at an average age of 16.63 years, whilst men of the same age report an average age of 17.21 years.
At first glance, it might therefore seem that the younger generation is starting to have sex earlier and earlier. However, this is precisely where the statistics show how easily the average alone can paint a misleading picture.
Sexless at twenty? It’s more common than many people think
Alongside the average age of first sexual intercourse, there is another extremely interesting figure. According to CZECHSEX data published by the Czech Statistical Office, at the time of the survey, 35.5 per cent of men aged 18 to 25 and 23.5 per cent of women of the same age had no sexual experience. Across the entire adult population surveyed, 8.43 per cent of men and 5.93 per cent of women had never had sex.
The notion that practically everyone must have their first sexual experience by secondary school at the latest therefore has relatively little to do with reality. Even among the youngest generation of adults surveyed, a significant proportion of people enter their twenties without any sexual experience.
And it is precisely the combination of these two figures that is interesting. Those young people who have already had sex may start relatively early, but at the same time there is a large group who postpone their sexual debut for considerably longer. A uniform ‘norm’ is thus tending to break down.
Fifteen-year-old Czechs are by no means European record-holders
When comparing individual European countries, it is important to be cautious. Popular online rankings of the average age of ‘losing one’s virginity’ often mix surveys from different periods, different age groups of respondents and questions phrased in various ways. Furthermore, one study uses the mean, another the median, and even the definition of ‘first sexual intercourse’ may not be the same everywhere.
For international comparisons, therefore, the standardised data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) project – conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and enabling comparisons of adolescent behaviour across dozens of countries – are far more useful. And here, the Czech Republic certainly does not come across as a country of teenagers who are in a particular hurry to have sex.
According to a new analysis of Czech HBSC data published in the academic journal *Central European Journal of Public Health*, 18.7 per cent of 15-year-old Czech boys and 13.9 per cent of girls had had sexual intercourse by 2022. The study was based on six representative waves of research from 2002 to 2022 and included more than 19,000 15-year-olds.
Even more interesting is the long-term trend. The authors noted a shift towards a later start to sexual activity, particularly among girls. The proportion of adolescents who began at the age of fourteen gradually declined, whilst very early sexual debut at the age of thirteen or younger remained relatively stable. The simplistic notion that each successive generation begins having sex earlier than the previous one does not, therefore, correspond very well with the Czech data.
A similar trend can be seen elsewhere in Europe
In other European countries, too, there are signs that young people are not having their first sexual experience at an ever-younger age.
This is clearly evident in Germany, for example. The representative Youth Sexuality study , the results of which were published in the specialist journal *Bundesgesundheitsblatt*, found that among sixteen-year-olds, around 34 per cent of respondents had had sexual intercourse. Among 17- and 18-year-olds, the figure rose to 61 per cent. German researchers also pointed out that the proportion of adolescents who have their first sexual intercourse before their 17th birthday is declining over the long term.
France also presents a very interesting picture. According to the extensive survey *Contexte des sexualités en France*, conducted by the Inserm institute, the median age at first sexual intercourse in 2023 was 18.2 years for women and 17.7 years for men. This means that by this age, half of the population surveyed had already had their first sexual encounter. Furthermore, the French data show that, following decades during which the age of first sexual intercourse had been gradually falling, the trend began to reverse slightly in the late 2010s, and the age of sexual debut is once again rising.
French researchers point out that a similar trend has also been observed in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, for example. The Czechs therefore do not stand out dramatically in a European context. Across European societies, the first sexual experience most commonly occurs during late adolescence and early adulthood. At the same time, however, the proportion of young people who are in no hurry to have sex for the first time is growing.
What does ‘losing one’s virginity’ actually mean?
There is, however, another rather fundamental problem. The very question of when a person ‘loses their virginity’ is not, from a scientific point of view, as straightforward as it might seem.
Virginity is not, in fact, a medical condition. The World Health Organisation, together with the UN, explicitly points out that the concept of virginity is a social, cultural and religious construct with no medical or scientific basis. There is no examination that can reliably determine whether a woman has had sexual intercourse, nor does the appearance of the hymen provide this information.
Even more complicated is the question of what we actually consider to be ‘first sex’. Traditional research into sexuality has often centred primarily on vaginal intercourse between a man and a woman. However, for gay men, lesbian women, bisexual people and many heterosexual couples, such a definition is understandably inadequate.
Is oral sex the first sexual experience? Anal sex? Mutual masturbation? And why should one specific sexual practice be the moment when a person supposedly loses a certain status?
This is precisely why, particularly in a queer context, it often makes more sense to talk about one’s first sexual experience or sexual debut rather than the ‘loss of virginity’. Not only is such a term more neutral, but it also better captures the reality that sexuality need not have a single, clearly defined beginning.
More important than age may be with whom and why one’s first sexual experience takes place
Moreover, the number on one’s identity card alone does not say much about the quality of one’s first sexual experience.
Once again, German data on young people’s sexuality is revealing in this regard. Most respondents had their first sexual intercourse either within a relationship or with someone they already knew well. Only a small proportion had their first sexual experience with someone they knew little or not at all.
Among girls and young women, there was also a clear correlation between age and how they rated their first experience. Among those who were fourteen or younger at the time of their first sexual encounter, 44 per cent rated it as a pleasant experience. If they were at least fifteen, this proportion rose to 62 per cent.
This does not, of course, mean that there is a magic age threshold beyond which a first sexual experience is automatically a good one. Rather, it points to something else – circumstances, readiness, mutual consent, trust and the relationship between people can be far more important than the pressure to have one’s sexual debut by a certain age.
And perhaps that is precisely what the current figures illustrate most eloquently. Young people today do not live in a world where sex simply happens earlier and earlier. Some start relatively early, others at eighteen, others at twenty-five or even later. From a European perspective, Czechs appear to be fairly typical, and data on adolescents actually point to a gradual postponement of the first sexual experience.
So if the statistics are debunking anything at all, it is not virginity. It is the notion that there is a specific age at which we are supposed to lose it.
