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Data for 2020

Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2020

2020, 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), 2020 covers 196 countries on 3 measures. Finland is highest, at 78.8; South Sudan is lowest, at 5.9. The middle country reads 40.7. Against 2019, 169 values changed (131 up, 38 down), the same countries are covered.

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Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method) · Data for 2020

HighestFinland

78.8

LowestSouth Sudan

5.9

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), 2020, 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), 2020: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
FinlandFINNorthern Europe78.866.286.2Projection
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe72.762.880.2Projection
CanadaCANNorthern America72.651.987.9Projection
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe71.054.183.6Projection
NorwayNORNorthern Europe68.348.388.7Projection
ChinaCHNEastern Asia67.759.381.1Projection
FranceFRAWestern Europe66.950.980.2Projection
BrazilBRASouth America66.457.974.6Projection
BulgariaBGREastern Europe66.346.683.5Projection
AustriaAUTWestern Europe65.453.176.4Projection
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe64.945.479.9Projection
CubaCUBCaribbean64.858.470.6Interpolation
ChileCHLSouth America64.353.274.7Projection
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand63.949.480.9Projection
CzechiaCZEEastern Europe63.847.081.9Projection
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe63.248.575.4Projection
EstoniaESTNorthern Europe62.950.074.7Projection
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe62.736.587.5Projection
ColombiaCOLSouth America62.353.671.2Projection
SpainESPSouthern Europe62.054.568.7Interpolation
BelgiumBELWestern Europe60.653.467.5Projection
United StatesUSANorthern America60.453.267.9Projection
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia60.149.474.8Projection
ItalyITASouthern Europe59.042.973.5Projection
PortugalPRTSouthern Europe58.544.970.6Projection

02In 2020

At either end

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

Highest

  1. Finland78.8
  2. Switzerland72.7
  3. Canada72.6
  4. United Kingdom71.0
  5. Norway68.3

Lowest

  1. South Sudan5.9
  2. Somalia6.3
  3. Chad6.8
  4. Eritrea7.6
  5. Sudan10.2

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 40.7. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Lower bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestFinland66.2

    LowestSouth Sudan3.6

    Middle country: 30.0

  • Upper bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestNorway88.7

    LowestChad9.8

    Middle country: 52.9

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 169values changed, of 196 in both
  • 131 · 38rose · fell
  • 27unchanged

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 2020.

  • 164 distinct values among 196

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 26.1. 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 (2020). Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/contraceptive-prevalence/2020

0634 held

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