Data from the 1989 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey provide evidence that the country's population growth rate, historically among the highest in the world, has begun to slow. The total fertility rate in 1989 was 6.7 live births per woman, down from 8.1 in the mid-1970s; most of the decline appears to have taken place in the past few years. Contraceptive prevalence has increased sharply, with 27 percent of married women using a method, up from 14 percent in 1984 and six percent in 1977-1978. Periodic abstinence remains the most widely used method (7.5 percent), followed by the pill (5.2 percent) and female sterilization (4.7 percent). The survey results suggest that the fertility decline is likely to continue. The average ideal family size in 1989 was 4.4 children, down from 5.8 in 1984. Half of currently married Kenyan women say they want no more children. In addition, more than half of recent births were either mistimed or unwanted. More than one-third of currently married women aged 15-49 are in need of family planning, 22 percent for spacing and 14 percent for limiting births