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Data for 2016

Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2016

2016, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

The share of all women aged 15 to 49, married or not, who are using any method of contraception, modern or traditional. It is the broadest measure of contraceptive use, and the gap between it and modern-method use shows how far a country relies on traditional methods such as withdrawal or periodic abstinence.

Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2016 covers 196 countries on 3 measures. Finland is highest, at 78.7; South Sudan is lowest, at 5.2. The middle country reads 39.7. Against 2015, 175 values changed (132 up, 43 down), the same countries are covered.

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Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method) · Data for 2016

HighestFinland

78.7

LowestSouth Sudan

5.2

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2016, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 196 countries · select a heading to sort

Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2016: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
FinlandFINNorthern Europe78.768.283.6Projection
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe72.965.978.5Interpolation
CanadaCANNorthern America72.754.586.4Projection
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe71.258.581.1Projection
NorwayNORNorthern Europe68.750.488.0Projection
ChinaCHNEastern Asia67.960.980.6Interpolation
CubaCUBCaribbean67.261.072.6Interpolation
FranceFRAWestern Europe67.255.577.4Projection
BulgariaBGREastern Europe66.549.182.1Projection
BrazilBRASouth America66.159.572.4Interpolation
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe64.948.776.9Projection
AustriaAUTWestern Europe63.952.573.9Interpolation
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand63.550.879.2Projection
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe63.453.471.6Projection
CzechiaCZEEastern Europe63.248.180.1Projection
ChileCHLSouth America62.855.469.7Interpolation
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe62.838.086.5Projection
EstoniaESTNorthern Europe62.253.770.5Projection
SpainESPSouthern Europe61.655.367.4Interpolation
ColombiaCOLSouth America61.457.165.8Interpolation
BelgiumBELWestern Europe60.955.266.2Interpolation
United StatesUSANorthern America60.955.666.3Interpolation
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia59.450.673.7Interpolation
PortugalPRTSouthern Europe59.349.066.6Projection
ItalyITASouthern Europe59.045.969.3Projection

02In 2016

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Finland78.7
  2. Switzerland72.9
  3. Canada72.7
  4. United Kingdom71.2
  5. Norway68.7

Lowest

  1. South Sudan5.2
  2. Somalia5.7
  3. Chad6.0
  4. Eritrea6.6
  5. Sudan9.1

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 39.7. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Lower bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestFinland68.2

    LowestSomalia3.6

    Middle country: 30.4

  • Upper bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestNorway88.0

    LowestChad7.4

    Middle country: 48.7

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 175values changed, of 196 in both
  • 132 · 43rose · fell
  • 21unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • One year of the 2024 release

    Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2016.

  • 166 distinct values among 196

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 50.5. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 196 countries has every column.

  • Some readings carry a flag

    UN DESA Population Division marks readings it considers estimates or provisional. The flags in this file: Projection, Interpolation.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (2016). Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/contraceptive-prevalence/2016

0634 held

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