The others do not need to use contraception, either because they want a child, because they are expecting one, or because they know that they are sterile. Yet in some regions of the world, sub-saharan Africa especially, access to contraception is difficult and only a minority of couples use birth control.

The most widespread method : sterilization

Nine contracepting couples in ten use modern contraceptive methods. The most widespread is sterilization (37% worldwide). On most continents, it is used by half of all couples, and nine times out of ten it is the woman who is sterilized.

The other most widely used methods are the intra-uterine device (23%), the pill (14%), condoms (10%) and withdrawal (4%)

Sterilization is common in the countries of Asia and Latin America, as well as in Anglo-Saxon countries such as England and the United States. It is much less popular in Africa and Europe, where it is chosen by only one couple in ten. The IUD is widely used in China, but much less in India. And the pill is practically absent from these two countries though used extensively elsewhere. Japan is the only country in the world where the condom is by far the most popular method.