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Data for 2021

Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2021

2021, 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), 2021 covers 196 countries on 3 measures. Finland is highest, at 78.8; South Sudan is lowest, at 6.1. The middle country reads 40.9. Against 2020, 173 values changed (132 up, 41 down), the same countries are covered.

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Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method) · Data for 2021

HighestFinland

78.8

LowestSouth Sudan

6.1

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), 2021, 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), 2021: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
FinlandFINNorthern Europe78.865.386.8Projection
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe72.761.781.1Projection
CanadaCANNorthern America72.651.288.1Projection
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe70.953.184.2Projection
NorwayNORNorthern Europe68.247.888.9Projection
ChinaCHNEastern Asia67.658.781.3Projection
FranceFRAWestern Europe66.850.080.9Projection
BrazilBRASouth America66.457.375.1Projection
BulgariaBGREastern Europe66.246.183.8Projection
AustriaAUTWestern Europe65.652.976.9Projection
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe64.944.780.4Projection
ChileCHLSouth America64.652.575.9Projection
CubaCUBCaribbean64.257.470.1Interpolation
CzechiaCZEEastern Europe63.946.682.4Projection
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand63.948.881.3Projection
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe63.147.576.2Projection
EstoniaESTNorthern Europe63.048.975.8Projection
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe62.636.287.8Projection
ColombiaCOLSouth America62.552.872.3Projection
SpainESPSouthern Europe62.554.369.8Interpolation
BelgiumBELWestern Europe60.652.168.6Projection
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia60.449.075.3Projection
United StatesUSANorthern America60.452.268.7Projection
ItalyITASouthern Europe59.042.074.4Projection
SwedenSWENorthern Europe58.641.079.3Projection

02In 2021

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 Kingdom70.9
  5. Norway68.2

Lowest

  1. South Sudan6.1
  2. Somalia6.6
  3. Chad7.0
  4. Eritrea7.9
  5. Sudanshared10.5

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 40.9. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Lower bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestFinland65.3

    LowestSouth Sudan3.5

    Middle country: 30.0

  • Upper bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestNorway88.9

    LowestChad10.6

    Middle country: 53.8

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 173values changed, of 196 in both
  • 132 · 41rose · fell
  • 23unchanged

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 2021.

  • 171 distinct values among 196

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 37.2. 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 (2021). Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/contraceptive-prevalence/2021

0634 held

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