Unmet need for contraception (% of married women ages 15-49) by country
Unmet need for contraception is the percentage of fertile, married women of reproductive age who do not want to become pregnant and are not using contraception.
What the numbers show
Unmet need for contraception (% of married women ages 15-49) is currently reported for 58 countries. The highest value is 38.0% in Haiti; the lowest is 5.8% in Nicaragua.
The median across all reporting countries is 15.4%, and the mean is 17.2%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 7.
Over the past decade 18 countries rose and 39 fell. The largest increase was in Vietnam (up 135.0%), and the largest decrease in Nicaragua (down 60.3%).
Unmet need for contraception (% of married women ages 15-49): full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haiti | 38.0% | 2017 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 2 | Togo | 34.0% | 2017 | down 8.6% | falling |
| 3 | Mauritania | 31.1% | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 4 | Chad | 30.2% | 2019 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 5 | Benin | 29.9% | 2022 | down 8.3% | rising |
| 6 | Burundi | 29.7% | 2017 | down 8.3% | rising |
| 7 | Mozambique | 26.6% | 2023 | up 11.3% | rising |
| 8 | East Timor | 25.3% | 2016 | down 19.7% | rising |
| 9 | Sierra Leone | 24.8% | 2019 | down 12.7% | falling |
| 10 | Mali | 23.9% | 2018 | down 13.4% | rising |
| 11 | Nigeria | 23.9% | 2021 | up 22.9% | rising |
| 12 | Ghana | 23.4% | 2022 | down 11.4% | falling |
| 13 | Bolivia | 23.2% | 2016 | up 15.4% | falling |
| 14 | Cameroon | 23.0% | 2018 | down 2.1% | flat |
| 15 | Mongolia | 22.6% | 2018 | up 56.7% | rising |
| 16 | Cote d'Ivoire | 22.4% | 2022 | down 17.5% | falling |
| 17 | Guinea | 22.1% | 2018 | up 0.9% | flat |
| 18 | Uganda | 21.8% | 2022 | down 36.4% | falling |
| 19 | Ethiopia | 21.2% | 2021 | down 19.3% | falling |
| 20 | Niger | 21.1% | 2023 | up 32.1% | rising |
| 21 | Burkina Faso | 21.0% | 2022 | down 14.2% | falling |
| 22 | Tanzania | 21.0% | 2022 | down 5.8% | falling |
| 23 | Nepal | 20.8% | 2022 | down 24.4% | falling |
| 24 | Zambia | 19.7% | 2018 | down 25.9% | falling |
| 25 | Senegal | 19.1% | 2023 | down 34.6% | falling |
| 26 | El Salvador | 17.7% | 2021 | down 3.8% | flat |
| 27 | Pakistan | 17.3% | 2018 | down 31.3% | falling |
| 28 | Kazakhstan | 15.5% | 2018 | up 33.4% | falling |
| 29 | Malawi | 15.4% | 2020 | down 41.1% | falling |
| 30 | Dominican Republic | 15.3% | 2019 | up 38.2% | falling |
| 31 | Madagascar | 14.6% | 2021 | down 23.2% | falling |
| 32 | Kenya | 13.9% | 2022 | down 20.6% | falling |
| 32 | Guatemala | 13.9% | 2015 | down 49.6% | falling |
| 34 | Rwanda | 13.6% | 2020 | down 34.6% | falling |
| 35 | Honduras | 12.9% | 2019 | down 23.4% | falling |
| 36 | Egypt | 12.6% | 2014 | up 6.8% | falling |
| 36 | Lesotho | 12.6% | 2024 | down 31.5% | falling |
| 38 | Armenia | 12.5% | 2016 | down 35.2% | falling |
| 39 | Philippines | 12.4% | 2022 | down 35.8% | falling |
| 40 | Paraguay | 12.1% | 2016 | up 83.8% | volatile |
| 41 | Turkey | 11.6% | 2018 | up 34.9% | falling |
| 42 | Cambodia | 11.5% | 2022 | down 32.0% | falling |
| 43 | Morocco | 11.3% | 2018 | up 3.7% | falling |
| 44 | Jordan | 10.8% | 2023 | down 7.7% | falling |
| 44 | Mexico | 10.8% | 2018 | up 10.2% | falling |
| 46 | Indonesia | 10.6% | 2017 | down 19.1% | falling |
| 47 | Zimbabwe | 10.4% | 2015 | down 32.9% | falling |
| 48 | Vietnam | 10.1% | 2021 | up 135.0% | rising |
| 49 | Bangladesh | 10.0% | 2022 | down 25.9% | falling |
| 50 | India | 9.4% | 2021 | down 54.1% | falling |
| 51 | Thailand | 8.9% | 2022 | up 29.5% | falling |
| 52 | Peru | 8.9% | 2023 | down 1.1% | volatile |
| 53 | United States | 7.2% | 2019 | up 24.1% | rising |
| 54 | Ecuador | 7.1% | 2018 | down 3.5% | volatile |
| 55 | Jamaica | 7.0% | 2022 | down 30.0% | falling |
| 55 | Colombia | 7.0% | 2015 | down 18.6% | falling |
| 57 | North Korea | 6.6% | 2017 | down 58.2% | falling |
| 58 | Nicaragua | 5.8% | 2012 | down 60.3% | falling |
About this data
Unmet need for contraception is the percentage of fertile, married women of reproductive age who do not want to become pregnant and are not using contraception.