Czechs are well informed about skin cancer, yet they do not protect themselves sufficiently from the sun
Excessive sun exposure can cause skin cancer, yet half of us still get sunburned and turn red on a regular basis. According to a new survey by NMS, 16% of people do not protect themselves from the sun’s rays at all, and others use sunscreen only in extreme cases. At the same time, the Czech Republic ranks among European countries with a high incidence of melanoma—among men, we are even ninth in Europe. However, we are more careful with our children than we are with ourselves.
The summer season is just around the corner, and according to Czechs, sunny weather goes hand in hand with sunbathing. 6% actively seek it out, while another 24% enjoy it when the opportunity arises. Women sunbathe significantly more often, partly because they like tanned skin (70% of women agree with this, compared to 58% of men).
When it comes to sun protection, however, we are unfortunately not very diligent. Half of Czechs experience, at least occasionally getting sunburned, resulting in redness of the skin. For 15%, this is even a common occurrence. This does not mean we do not protect ourselves at all. The most common form of protection is sunscreen, oils, or lotions, which 56% of us use. A third of people prefer to hide from the sun in the shade, a quarter avoid the harshest midday sun, and for a comparable percentage, clothing is the preferred form of protection.
“However, there are also 16% who admit that they do not protect their skin at all,” notes Stanislav Radocha, an analyst at NMS.
When we do apply sunscreen, it’s just for the sake of it
Even those who use sunscreen don’t exactly use it properly. The most common strategy is to apply it when I know I’ll be in the sun for a long time (27%). However, there are certainly those who use sunscreen only under the intense midday sun (13%) or only when they specifically go out to tan (12%). And 6% only reach for it when their skin starts to burn. Conversely, only a small number of preventive users apply sunscreen whenever they go outside (6%).
What sunscreen do we use, and where do we go to buy it?
At least the good news is that we choose products with a reasonable SPF. Most often SPF 30 (35%) and SPF 50 (30%).
When we run out of sunscreen, we usually go to a drugstore to buy a new one. This is the preferred place to shop for 76% of people, and for half of them, it’s the most common option. Far behind come hypermarkets and supermarkets (you guessed it, these are more often a man’s domain), followed by pharmacies.
“We were also curious about what people dislike about sunscreen products. The most frequently cited complaint, however, was neither the price nor the discomfort of application. What bothers us most is simply the greasy or sticky feeling after applying them. This is confirmed by 56% of Czechs (both men and women). In addition, a third of people don’t bother using sunscreen because they feel invulnerable and claim that their skin is resilient and they know they won’t get sunburned,” says the research author, Stanislav Radocha.
Not even skin cancer will keep us from sunbathing
As you can see, we aren’t very careful about sun protection. Yet 99% of Czechs know that excessive sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. In fact, 62% say they know quite a bit about this topic.
Melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, is the sixth most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in Europe. The highest incidence rates are found in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and Germany. Globally, Australia and New Zealand lead the list. The Czech Republic is also frequently mentioned among countries with a significantly high incidence. According to the ECIS (European Cancer Information System) rankings for 2022, we ranked eleventh in Europe in terms of melanoma incidence among women, and even ninth among men.
Even in the Czech context, both the incidence (i.e., the number of newly diagnosed cases) of malignant skin melanoma and the prevalence—that is, the number of living people who have the disease or have had it in the past—have been rising significantly over the long term. To give a more concrete idea: in 1970, 3.1 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants were diagnosed in the Czech Republic. By 2022, that number had risen to 24.6. As of December 31, 2022, there were 33,790 people living with this disease in the Czech Republic. It is certainly worth noting the decline observed in 2020 and 2021, which was likely related to anti-epidemic measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like to delve into the statistics in greater detail, the National Cancer Registry of the Czech Republic is a rich source of information on this topic.
The question remains, why, despite being well aware of the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, Czechs are so inconsistent and do not take greater precautions. One possible argument is that, despite the rising incidence of skin cancer, this disease has a high rate of early diagnosis and a relatively low and stable mortality rate over time, so it does not serve as the warning it should. However, it is, of course, questionable how many of us actually seek out these early diagnoses through preventive screenings.
We take better care of our children’s skin than our own
The good news is that we’re much more careful with our children. 93% protect their children’s skin more thoroughly than their own (63% significantly more thoroughly), while 7% protect it just as thoroughly as their own. For children, sunscreen is a very common form of protection, used by 92% of parents. Furthermore, 78% don’t forget to provide appropriate head coverings, and 59% try to protect their children by keeping them in the shade. And fortunately, there is no one who fails to protect their children at all.
“Influencers” in the fight against sunscreen
Interestingly, a great deal of misinformation is associated with sunscreen. In recent years, this has been amplified by certain “influencers” who speak out against its use. Their rhetoric typically claims that sunscreens are unnatural, that they are merely a pharmaceutical industry lobby aimed at profiting off customers, that they actually harm human skin—even more than the sun’s rays themselves—and that they can even cause cancer. Numerous experts warn against these claims, partly because we already have evidence suggesting their impact. “For example, some international studies have found just how much uncertainty and misconceptions Generation Z has regarding the use of sunscreen. Yet skin melanoma is one of the most common types of cancer among young adults,” adds Stanislav Radocha.
And what about you—have you come across similar warnings against the use of sunscreen products on social media or the internet?
Methodology
A total of 1,009 respondents participated in the online survey. Data was collected from a representative sample of the online population aged 18 and older via an online questionnaire from May 5 to May 9, 2025.
Author
Stanislav Radocha, NMS Market Research s.r.o. – [email protected], +420 721 654 843
Contact for media
Lucie Režná, NMS Market Research s.r.o. – [email protected], +420 724 950 557
About NMS Market Research
NMS Market Research is a research agency with over 20 years of history. In addition to market research, which it provides to hundreds of clients worldwide, it also studies political and social issues. In addition to the Czech Republic, it operates in other countries in Europe and Asia. NMS is a member of the international organization ESOMAR and national organization SIMAR.