This report covers 142 countries, representing 92 per cent of the world population. It examines the prevalence of contraceptive use at national, regional and global levels. Trends in contraceptive use from the 1970s are analysed for 86 countries. Specific methods of contraception are also examined: female sterilization accounts for a third, IUD for 22 per cent, and the oral pill 14 per cent. The report also includes estimates of the growth in contraceptive practice required if fertility is to decline in line with the UN population projections in "World population prospects: the 1998 revision" (1999, ISBN 9211513332)