Taiwanese not using condoms

More people in Taiwan have unprotected sex than anywhere else in Asia, local media reported yesterday.

Around 14 percent of sexually-active Taiwanese do not use any contraceptive methods, resulting in the highest pregnancy rate in Asia, according to a local online media, quoting results from a soon-to-be published sex survey sponsored by condom giant Durex.

While around 50 million condoms are used in Taiwan annually, on average every sexually-active Taiwanese uses less than 10 condoms a year, the report said, citing the 2001 Durex Global Sex Survey.

In addition, more than 20 percent of Taiwanese who have had one-night stands (一夜情) did not use condoms during sex, he added.

Around two people in Taiwan contract the HIV virus each day, with the numbers climbing, while the annual number of abortions stands at between 320,000 and 400,000, according to statistics by the government's Center for Disease Control.

Of that number, more than 10,000 women under the age of 18 have abortions each year, it said.

Last year, the Durex Global Sex Survey found that Americans have sex most often at an average of 132 times a year, followed by the Russians at 122 times, the French at 121 times and the Greeks at 115 times.