The unmet need for family planning – the gap between women’s stated desires to delay or avoid having children and their actual use of contraception – has declined in most countries that have discernible trends. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, nearly one in four married women has an unmet need for family planning, and the rise in contraceptive use has, on average, barely kept pace with the growing desire to delay or limit births. This contributes to the continuing high fertility rate in that region and has undermined related goals, such as reducing child mortality, hunger and malnutrition, and increasing primary education enrolment.

In all regions, this unmet need is highest among the poorest households. This is most pronounced in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 27 per cent of the poorest households have an unmet need for family planning compared to 12 per cent of the wealthiest households. In sub-Saharan Africa, unmet need is high – over 20 per cent – even among the wealthiest households.