Poland's Condom Market Shrinks for First Time: Data

In the first such drop on record, condom and contraceptive sales in Poland fell by 10 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, during one year as of October 2011, new data show. Additional analyses of the figures compiled by Nielsen and IMS Health are expected to show the cause of the decline, but some experts already are weighing in.

“Youngsters choose condoms more often, and there are fewer and fewer of these youngsters, so [condom] producers are feeling it,” said Professor Zbigniew Izdebski. He added that the government has not launched any high-profile HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns in recent years, and this could contribute to falling condom sales.

“Poles are choosing other forms of sex more and more often, and perhaps this is the reason behind the decline of its traditional form,” said fellow sexologist Professor Zbigniew Lew-Starowicz. Professor Aleksandra Jodlko, however, blamed declining sales on depression and stress linked to the tough economy. Although Poland is a devoutly Roman Catholic nation, the sexologists did not cite the church’s prohibition on contraception as being a factor.

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