The Programme of Action of the International conference on Population and Development (ICPD), adopted by 179 Governments in Cairo and reaffirmed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, emphasizes equality in access to 'reproductive health care, including family planning and sexual health that would allow all couples and individuals to have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children' (United Nations, 1994). This inherently implies that it is 'the right of men and women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice'. It was reaffirmed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in target 3.7, 'by 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.' Progress towards achieving this target is monitored by indicator 3.7.1, 'the proportion of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods of contraception'. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is the custodian agency for the global monitoring of this indicator. This report describes the trends in contraceptive use over the past three decades, including trends in SDG indicator 3.7.1., and provides a comprehensive understanding of the patterns of contraceptive use and needs over the life-course of women as well as of contraceptive use by type of method