• Summary
• Credits

1. Focus on Men
2. Contraceptive Use
• Married Men: Majority Do Not Use Contraception
• Many Unmarried Sexually Active Men Use Condoms
• Men and Women Differ in Reported Contraceptive Use
• Groups of Married Men Differ Widely in Contraceptive Use
• Some Nonusers Say They Intend To Use Contraception in the Future
3. Contraceptive Awareness and Approval
4. Fertility Preferences
5. Young Men

• Figures
• Tables
• Side-bars
• Bibliography

• Men overreport, and women under-report, condom use
• Why many men do not intend to use family planning
• Radio and TV messages reach more men than women
• Most men want to have more children than women do
• Sexually active young unmarried men at risk for HIV/AIDS

• INFO Project
• Order
• Online Reports
• Upcoming Reports
• POPLINE

Contraceptive Use

Repeat surveys since 1990 suggest that a growing percentage of men are using contraception, particularly condoms. Nevertheless, in many surveyed countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, a minority of all men report currently using contraception.

One might expect that in surveys married men and women would report similar levels of contraceptive use, since couples use contraception together.³ Men tend to report higher levels of contraceptive use than women do, however. This finding suggests that some men use contraception in sexual relations outside marriage.

Among married men of reproductive age, levels of current contraceptive use, whether modern or traditional, vary widely among 46 surveyed countries. Levels range from 9% in Mozambique and Niger to 77% in Albania (where almost all use is of traditional methods) (see Table 1). In only 16 of the surveyed countries do a majority of surveyed married men report using any form of contraception.

In 32 of the 46 countries most married men who use contraception rely on modern methods, particularly oral contraceptives (OCs), male condoms, injectables, and female sterilization. Reported use of male sterilization is highest in Nepal, at 7%. In all other surveyed countries 2% or less of men report using male sterilization.

In 14 countries men’s use of the two traditional methods—periodic abstinence and withdrawal—is as high or higher than use of modern methods. Eleven of these 14 are in sub-Saharan Africa; the others are Albania, Bolivia, and Romania (see Table 1).

Among 16 countries with repeat surveys of men since 1990, current contraceptive use among married men increased in 12, largely reflecting increases in modern method use (see Figure 2 and Table 1).⁴ Only in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Tanzania was the increase at least 10 percentage points, however. In Tanzania the increase in contraceptive use was due to increased use of modern methods, mainly condoms and injectables, while in Burkina Faso and Cameroon it largely reflected greater use of periodic abstinence.

Levels of contraceptive use decreased in four countries, but the decline was substantial only in Rwanda—from 34% in 1992 to 19% in 2000 (see Figure 2 and Table 1). This reported drop might be due to the disruption caused by civil strife, but it could also reflect a difference in the wording of the survey questionnaire. In 1992 the Rwanda survey asked men about current contraceptive use. In 2000, however, it asked men about contraceptive use the last time that they had sex with their wives.

Among 36 countries with data on unmarried sexually active men of reproductive age, levels of current contraceptive use range from 11% in Albania to 89% in Kazakhstan (see Table 2). In every surveyed country except Albania, more men report use of modern methods, primarily condoms, than of traditional methods.

In 15 countries at least 40% of unmarried sexually active men report currently using condoms, and as many as 64% in Jamaica and 72% in Kazakhstan. Condom use appears to have increased in eight of nine countries with more than one survey since 1990 (see Figure 3 and Table 2).

Condom use much higher among unmarried sexually active men than married men. In 29 of the 36 countries with data on both unmarried and married men, current contraceptive use is greater among unmarried sexually active men than among married men, often substantially greater. In all 36 countries levels of condom use are higher among unmarried sexually active men than married men. In 27 of the 36 countries, unmarried sexually active men are at least five times as likely as married men to report condom use.

Many married people resist using condoms with their spouses, according to studies in Africa, because people associate condoms with being unfaithful, and so they fear that their spouses will mistrust them if they want to use condoms (6, 10). Unmarried men are more likely than married men to use condoms because they want to protect against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as against pregnancy.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.