Contraceptive Use and Commodity Costs In Developing Countries, 1990-2000

If the population of the developing world is not to exceed the United Nations medium population projection for the year 2000, no more than 969 million people can be added during the 1990s. This will require an increase in the contraceptive prevalence rate from 51% in 1990 to 59% in the year 2000. To meet these prevalence levels, service providers will have to perform more than 150 million sterilizations and distribute almost 8.8 billion cycles of oral contraceptives, 663 million contraceptive injections, 310 million IUDs and 44 billion condoms over the 10-year period. Furnishing these commodities is likely to cost in excess of $5 billion, more than $4 billion of which may have to come from the governments of developing countries.