Rubber sales reducing

20th January 2012

Condom sales have dropped around the country by a massive 10 percent it was reported this week.

The figures, put out by marketing research firm ACNielsen and IMS Health, show that between the period of November 2010 and October 2011, Poles purchased 10 percent less of the product in addition to 3.2 percent less hormonal contraceptive methods.

The dip is the biggest ever witnessed by the Polish market writes TVN24 and has affected outlets across the board including supermarkets, pharmacies, small stores and kiosks.

Opinions vary on the reason behind the slump, although one theory, put forward by Professor Zbigniew Izdebski, is that the number of young people in Poland is dropping and this age group is traditionally the largest consumer group.

“It’s usually the young who spend most on condoms and these days there are less and less youngsters. This could be one of the reasons why manufacturers are feeling the hit,” he says in Puls Biznesu.

Another suggestion put forward is that an increasing number of people are now choosing to have unprotected sex as opposed to ‘rubbering-up’.

One analyst at IMS Health points to the fact that there have been fewer major anti-AIDS campaigns over the past few years, a theory echoed by Professor Izdebski.

Brand manager at Durex Maja Medowska states that the well-known condom firm is currently carrying out its own study into why figures are dropping. “At present we are awaiting results from our own market research which will hopefully give us more of an idea as to why such a decline has happened,” she says. “We’ll know more by mid-February.”