A new national health survey has found that 73% of unmarried girls aged between 15 and 24 in Rwanda reported that they have never had sexual intercourse.
The findings are from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) 2025, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) in partnership with the Ministry of Health and released on June 30, 2026.
The survey, which covered 20,831 people aged 15–59 across the country, including 14,283 women and 6,548 men, examined a range of health and social indicators.
According to the report, 73% of unmarried girls aged 15–24 said they had never had sexual intercourse, while 65% of unmarried boys in the same age group reported having no sexual experience.
The survey showed that 3% of girls aged 15–24 had their first sexual experience before the age of 15, compared with 7% of boys.
Among young adults aged 18–24, 21% of females and 22% of males reported that they had started sexual activity before turning 18.
The findings indicate that early sexual activity among girls has remained relatively stable over the past 25 years, with the proportion of those who had sexual intercourse before age 15 remaining between 3% and 5%.
For boys, the rate has declined significantly, falling from 13% in 2005 to 8% in 2019/20 and 7% in 2025.
The survey also points to changing patterns among unmarried youth. The proportion of girls aged 15–24 who reported no sexual experience declined from 90% in 2000 to 76% in 2019/20 and 73% in 2025.
For boys, the proportion decreased from 70% in 2019/20 to 65% in 2025.
On sexual relationships involving multiple partners, RDHS 2025 found that 2% of girls aged 15–24 reported having had more than one sexual partner in the 12 months before the survey, compared with 4% of boys.
The report further showed that 13% of surveyed girls had sexual relations with someone they were not married to or living with, and 47% of them said they used a condom during their most recent sexual encounter.
Among boys, 14% reported similar relationships, with 74% saying they used a condom during their last sexual encounter.
