--- description: The Public Health Minister says it's a "political problem" title: Sweden's Government Is Investigating Whether Swedes Are Having Less Sex image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sweden's Government Is Investigating Whether Swedes Are Having Less Sex by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 29, 2016 7:43 PM CUT  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 29, 2016 7:43 PM CUT Swedish tabloids have reported that Swedes are having [less sex](http://time.com/3852117/millennials-sex-parents-boomers/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") than before, and now the government wants to investigate if this is true. The Public Health Agency will carry out a study on Swedish sex habits, which is set to be completed in 2019\. It has been 20 years since the last in-depth study of [sex habits](http://time.com/3342401/7-reasons-to-have-more-sex/?iid=sr-link9 "undefined") in Sweden, [the _Associated Press_ reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/8282fbd5728f4e8ab0a92acf27c077b3 "undefined"). A 2013 survey of 3,000 people conducted by the Aftonbladet tabloid found that Swedes are having [less sex](http://time.com/3846289/boomers-generations-millennials-sex-sex-trends-sexual-partners/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined"). Sweden’s Public Health Minister Gabriel Wikstrom wrote Friday in an opinion piece in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, saying that if stress and other health issues are affecting the [sex lives](http://time.com/10098/7-foods-for-better-sex/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") of the Swedes, “that is also a political problem.” Wikstrom also said that it is important to investigate the reasons behind this. Wikstrom also said in a separate article on the government’s website that the government needs more information about people’s [sex habits](http://time.com/3694763/match-com-dating-survey-emoji-sex/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined") to better guide its policies about sexual and reproductive health. \[[_Associated Press_](http://bigstory.ap.org/8282fbd5728f4e8ab0a92acf27c077b3 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4431155/swedens-government-is-investigating-whether-swedes-are-having-less-sex/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4431155/swedens-government-is-investigating-whether-swedes-are-having-less-sex/"},"headline":"Sweden's Government Is Investigating Whether Swedes Are Having Less Sex","datePublished":"2016-07-29T19:43:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:34:56.325Z","description":"The Public Health Minister says it's a \"political problem\"","url":"https://time.com/4431155/swedens-government-is-investigating-whether-swedes-are-having-less-sex/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","Public Health","Sex","Research","sweden","global health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rosalie Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4431155/swedens-government-is-investigating-whether-swedes-are-having-less-sex/","name":"Sweden's Government Is Investigating Whether Swedes Are Having Less Sex"}}]}] ```