Sexually transmitted infections continue to rise across European nations, according to annual data released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The most recent release, published on Monday, covers data from 2023. It shows rates of bacterial infections, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, rose again across the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA).

Almost 100,000 new cases of gonorrhea were reported — a record high — up from about 74,000 in 2022. It is more than four times the number of annual cases reported 10 years earlier.

Gonorrhea cases were highest among women aged 20-24 years and men aged 25-34 years. Cases among men who have sex with men (MSM) account for more than half of all infections.

Rates of syphilis also rose — up 13% on 2022 levels — to more than 40,000 reported cases. About half were reported as MSM cases.

Chlamydia remains the most frequently reported STI in Europe. With particularly high prevalence in women and men aged 20-24 years (577 cases in every 100,000).

Experts are concerned. But they also know there is a simple explanation.

"People are having sex," Maria Wessman, section head of blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, told DW. Wessman was not involved in compiling the ECDC data.

Her's is a matter-of-fact statement, and obvious, too. But Wessman's point is about how people are having sex.

Wessman, and other........

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