Family Planning in Africa by the Numbers

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Credit:
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Credit: Guttmacher Institute

Between 2008 and 2012 women using modern methods of contraception increased by 42 million in the developing world. But by 2012, only 17 percent of women in sub-Saharan Africa (East, South, Middle and West Africa) were using contraceptives - the lowest level worldwide. In North Africa there was a 4 percent decline in contraceptive use from 2008 to 2012.
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Credit: Guttmacher Institute

African countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi and Rwanda have made significant progress in contraceptive prevalence but still lag far behind developed nations. Nigeria witnessed the least change, raising concerns about access to contraceptives in the country.
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Credit: Guttmacher Institute

For many African women, access to contraception presents a major challenge. The number of women with unmet need increased for nearly all of Africa from 2008 to 2012.
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Credit: Reproductive Health Suuplies Coalition

These seven countries are representative of the African continent, where unmet need outstrips contraceptive use.
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Credit: Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition

African countries lag far behind in contraceptive supply security. Many scored below 15 percent, critical (pale blue on the map), in an assessment by the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. The overall score reflects such indicators as country office capacity; national coordination; national action plans; contraceptive law and policy; logistics and supply chain management; and demand, access and equity.
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Credit: Gapminder

This chart illustrates the correlation between maternal deaths (vertical axis), child mortality (horizontal axis) and contraception use (circle size). African countries disproportionally occupy the upper, right-hand corner - indicating a high number of maternal and infant deaths. The small circles for Chad, Niger and Sierra Leone show that contraceptive use is limited in these countries.
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Credit: UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation

Contraception use can prevent child and maternal deaths, according to the Guttmacher Institute. This is particularly important for Africa, which bears a disproportionate share of child deaths, according to a UN report. In sub-Saharan Africa, one in eight children dies before age five. The Guttmacher Institute predicts there would be 0.6 million fewer newborn deaths and 0.5 million fewer older infant deaths if all contraceptive needs were met.
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Credit: UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation

Family planning has important implications for Millennium Development Goal 4 - to reduce child mortality by two-thirds. In 2012 the majority of the continent had achieved insufficient progress (red on map) or no progress (orange on map).

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