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Data for 2023

Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2023

2023, 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), 2023 covers 196 countries on 3 measures. Finland is highest, at 78.7; South Sudan is lowest, at 6.6. The middle country reads 41.3. Against 2022, 174 values changed (143 up, 31 down), the same countries are covered.

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Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method) · Data for 2023

HighestFinland

78.7

LowestSouth Sudan

6.6

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), 2023, 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), 2023: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
FinlandFINNorthern Europe78.763.787.8Projection
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe72.859.482.6Projection
CanadaCANNorthern America72.649.888.8Projection
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe70.851.385.2Projection
NorwayNORNorthern Europe67.946.789.2Projection
ChinaCHNEastern Asia67.257.281.9Projection
FranceFRAWestern Europe66.748.081.9Projection
BrazilBRASouth America66.655.976.7Projection
BulgariaBGREastern Europe65.944.584.4Projection
AustriaAUTWestern Europe65.851.978.3Projection
ChileCHLSouth America65.251.277.9Projection
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe64.943.281.5Projection
New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand64.047.982.2Projection
CzechiaCZEEastern Europe63.445.282.8Projection
CubaCUBCaribbean63.255.469.8Projection
SpainESPSouthern Europe63.253.571.8Projection
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe63.145.877.9Projection
ColombiaCOLSouth America63.051.974.4Projection
EstoniaESTNorthern Europe63.046.977.2Projection
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe62.735.688.2Projection
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia60.948.476.3Projection
BelgiumBELWestern Europe60.549.271.1Projection
United StatesUSANorthern America60.449.870.9Projection
ItalyITASouthern Europe59.040.475.7Projection
NicaraguaNICCentral America58.946.271.5Projection

02In 2023

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. Switzerland72.8
  3. Canada72.6
  4. United Kingdom70.8
  5. Norway67.9

Lowest

  1. South Sudan6.6
  2. Somalia7.1
  3. Chad7.4
  4. Eritrea8.5
  5. Mauritania11.1

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 41.3. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Lower bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestFinland63.7

    LowestSouth Sudan3.4

    Middle country: 29.6

  • Upper bound (95% uncertainty interval)

    HighestNorway89.2

    LowestChad12.3

    Middle country: 55.7

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 174values changed, of 196 in both
  • 143 · 31rose · fell
  • 22unchanged

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 2023.

  • 172 distinct values among 196

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 50.6. 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 (2023). Contraceptive Prevalence (Any Method), 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/contraceptive-prevalence/2023

0634 held

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