South Korean women in their 20s and 30s had sex less in 2014 compared with a decade ago, a survey showed Monday, amid high youth unemployment that has led to late marriage and less dating.

South Korea's overall unemployment rate stood at 3.8 percent in June, up 0.2 percentage point from the same month last year. The unemployment rate for young people aged between 15 and 29 was much higher at 10.1 percent, up from 9.4 percent a year earlier. Jobless numbers have consistently outpaced those of the general population in recent years.

The latest findings by professor Park Joo-hyun of Boramae Medical Center in western Seoul in 2014 showed women in their 20s had sex 3.52 times per month. The survey was based on responses provided by 516 women who were screened to make certain they provided accurate data.
 

The comparable figure was 5.67 in 2004.

Those in their 30s had sex 4.18 times per month in 2014 compared with 5.31 in 2004.

The figure for those in their 40s, meanwhile, rose slightly to 3.69 in 2014 from 3.22 in 2004.

"The average age of marriage for women rose to 29.6 in 2014 from 27.5 in 2004," Park said. "We assume late marriage markedly reduced the frequency of sexual intercourse for the women in their 20s and 30s."

The survey also showed the average age that South Korean women had sex for the first time was 20.4 in 2014 compared with 21.9 in 2004.

Park advised the government to come up with measures to enhance contraception education for students, noting the survey showed only 11 percent of men who had sex with the women surveyed used condoms in 2014.

The comparable figure was 35.2 percent a decade earlier. (Yonhap)