In 2025, 5% of people aged 16 and over engaged at least once in the previous 12 months in behaviour associated with higher sexual health risk—specifically, having sex without a condom with someone they are not in a long-term relationship with—. Men report higher levels of sexual risk behaviour than women, with the highest rates observed among people in their twenties. Women are more likely than men to undergo testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). More than three quarters of sexually active women aged 16 to 50 use contraception. These are some of the findings about sexual health released last week by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
The results are from the Health Survey/Lifestyle Monitor 2025, a collaboration between CBS, RIVM and the Lifestyle Monitor consortium. The full news release is available on the CBS website.
Lifestyle Monitor
RIVM monitors trends in lifestyle and health through the Lifestyle Monitor, which serves as an evidence base for government policy. The Lifestyle Monitor is a collaboration between parties that focus on lifestyle issues: Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Trimbos Institute, Rutgers, STI Aids the Netherlands (Soa Aids Nederland), Dutch Consumer Safety Institute (VeiligheidNL), the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum), the Dutch Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities (Pharos), the Association of GGDs (Municipal Public Health Services) and GHOR (Regional Medical Emergency Preparedness and Planning_ (GGD GHOR Netherlands) and CBS. RIVM will release a series of detailed reports and studies later this year. These findings are also used for the annual ‘Sexually Transmitted Infections in the Netherlands’ report.