"Since Pregnancy Is Unlikely": Alarming Neglect of Contraception Among Korean Adolescents

Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs Study on Contraceptive Use Among Korean Women
About 20% Leave Contraceptive Decisions to Their Partners

Three out of ten adolescents did not use contraception consistently during sexual intercourse in the past year.

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According to the report “Current Status of Contraceptive Use Among Korean Women and Its Implications” released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on July 17, 2026, the proportion of adolescents who said they always used contraception during sexual intercourse in the past year, based on the data for 2025, was 67.3%. This figure has increased from 54.6% in 2022, but still, 32.7% responded that they used contraception only occasionally or not at all.

The most common reason for not always using contraception (multiple responses allowed) was “I or my partner did not have access to contraceptives, such as condoms,” cited by 76.5%. This was followed by "believed the likelihood of pregnancy was low" (52.9%), "trusted that the partner was using contraception" (47.1%), "the partner did not want to use contraception" (35.3%), and both "did not know much about contraceptive methods" and "found it inconvenient to use contraceptives" (29.4% each).

The most frequently used contraceptive method by adolescents was the menstrual cycle method (34.6%), followed by oral contraceptives (25.0%) and emergency contraceptives (19.2%). As for the partner’s method, condoms were the most common (73.1%), while the withdrawal method accounted for as much as 50.0%.

When it came to deciding on contraception, the most common response was “My partner and I decide together” at 50.0%, and the rate of “I decide” was 30.8%, which was lower than in other age groups. In addition, 34.6% reported experiences of wanting to use a condom but being unable to, which was higher than the rate among young adults (25.9%).

The research team emphasized the need to approach contraception not just as a means of preventing pregnancy, but also for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and for the management of sexual health. They stressed the importance of strengthening systematic sex and reproductive health education and providing accurate information throughout the life cycle. However, they noted that since few adolescents and older adults reported sexual activity in the past year, caution is required in interpreting the results for these groups.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.