A national survey on sexual attitudes in 2000 found that 15.8% of men or boys in the United Kingdom (ages 16–44) were circumcised by their parents' choosing, while 11.7% of 16- to 19-year-olds, and 19.6% of 40- to 44-year-olds said they had been circumcised.
Is male circumcision for babies common in the UK? It's estimated that approximately 20% of males in the UK are circumcised (Morris et al, 2016). Circumcision is more usual in certain cultural or religious communities.
In the UK, around one-third of men were circumcised just before the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948. But the newly-created NHS ruled that circumcision was not medically necessary, and therefore would not be covered.
Most boys born in Australia around 1950 were circumcised. Since then, there has been a big move away from circumcision. Now less than 20% of Australian boys are circumcised. The only major western country where circumcision is very common is the United States.
Compared to Scottish men, nationals from non-European countries (the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) were more likely to be circumcised (13.1 percent vs. 50.0 percent, respectively, p<0.001).
Present. Rates vary widely, from over 90% in Israel and many Muslim-majority countries, 86.3% in South Korea, to 80% in the United States, to 58% in Australia, to 45% in South Africa, to 20.7% in the United Kingdom, to under 1% in Japan and Honduras.
In Japan, routine male circumcision has never been implemented for newborns and children, and adult males are mostly circumcised at aesthetic clinics. However, media reports indicate a trend of Japanese mothers willing to have their sons circumcised.
Circumcision rates around the world
Circumcision is also standard in the United States and parts of Southeast Asia and Africa, but is rare in Europe, Latin America, and most of Asia.
MC is not commonly practiced by the Chinese. While the prevalence of MC worldwide is almost 30%, only 5% of Chinese males are circumcised [12].
Conclusion: The highest-quality studies suggest that medical male circumcision has no adverse effect on sexual function, sensitivity, sexual sensation, or satisfaction.
Like all Christian European nations, Sweden does not practice male circumcision. Muslim and Jewish immigrants, however, have brought their circumcision practices into Sweden. This clash of cultures has created tension and conflict between Swedish human rights principles and the blood rites of foreign religions.
Circumcision is not practiced among Italy's Roman Catholic majority. Many immigrants in Italy are Muslim and practice circumcision for cultural and religious reasons, but sometimes have trouble accessing the practice in hospitals. For some, the hospital costs are too high.
About 80 percent of the world's population do not practice circumcision, nor have they ever done so. Among the non-circumcising nations are Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, the U.S.S.R. , China, and Japan.
The prevalence of circumcision varies widely in western countries led by the USA (71 per cent), New Zealand (33 per cent), Australia (27 per cent), the UK (21 per cent), France (14 per cent), Germany (11 per cent), Sweden (5 per cent), Italy (3 per cent) and Ireland (1 per cent).
European countries consider newborn circumcision an unnecessary surgical procedure which increases the costs of operating nationalised health systems, whereas in the US, circumcision is generally considered a simple, rapid operation with medical benefits which accrue throughout life.
Roman Catholic Church
Pope Pius XII taught that circumcision is only "[morally] permissible if, in accordance with therapeutic principles, it prevents a disease that cannot be countered in any other way."
In the middle of the last century, most Canadian boys were circumcised. However, the rate of neonatal circumcision has declined over time to the current Canadian average of 32%, with significant regional variability.
Today, the procedure is performed less commonly in New Zealand (estimated at less than 10% of boys), mostly for social, cultural or religious reasons. It is generally agreed among medical professionals that, except in a few instances, there is no medical reason for routine circumcision.
Male circumcision is strongly identified with religion in India. It is only practised among Muslims, who constitute over 13% of the population, which amounts to a large number in a country of over one billion people.
In the Netherlands thousands of boys, both Jewish and Muslim, are circumcised for religious reasons every year. Estimates range between 10,000 and 15,000 circumcisions carried out in this country annually.
In Denmark (~5% circumcised), we examined associations of male circumcision with a range of sexual measures in both sexes.
Most ritual circumcisions in Norway are performed on boys less than one year old, often soon after birth. If a boy who is to be circumcised has reached an age and level of maturity which enables them to understand the information about the operation, the boy himself must be given the information.
Because male circumcision is so common in the states, few Americans realize how rare it is most everywhere else. The practice has fallen by the wayside in Australia, Canada, Britain and New Zealand, and fewer than one-fifth of all male Europeans are circumcised.