Contraception is one of the major determinants of fertility levels. Its use has been increasing steadily since 1970 and is currently widespread throughout the world. However, progress has been uneven across geographical areas, and great challenges remain in terms of both increasing the level of
contraceptive use to satisfy existing needs in certain regions and in terms of making available an adequate variety of contraceptive methods to increase the ability of couples wishing to use contraception to do so in a consistent and efficient manner.
This report on Levels and Trends of Contraceptive Use as Assessed in 2002, prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, is part of the Population Division’s on-going activities related to the monitoring of levels and trends of fertility, nuptiality and contraceptive use in all countries of the world. It shows that although the great majority of countries in the world have now endorsed policies in support of family planning, considerable disparities in their levels of contraceptive use still exist. Although contraceptive use has increased tremendously in the less developed regions, the overall level of use in those regions is still lower than that in the more developed regions. As this report documents, there are high proportions of couples in developing countries who discontinue the use of one method of contraception with out promptly switching to
another method, suggesting that mere increases in prevalence of contraceptive use need not necessarily mean success in avoiding unwanted or mistimed
pregnancies.