Contraceptive use is closely associated with population development and health. We aimed to understand the pattern and changes of temporal, spatial and population distribution of contraceptive use in China in this study. The data we used were from previous national family planning/reproductive health surveys during last two decades, 2019 national health yearbook, and several large multi-center investigations in abortion/postpartum/migrant women in China. Findings of this study show that contraceptive prevalence slightly declined during last two decades. Proportion of long-acting methods, including sterilization and intrauterine devices, dropped sharply, and that of short-acting methods, in particular condoms, increased fast. The proportion of short-acting methods and abortion-birth ratios in eastern coastal developed provinces were far more higher than those in most other provinces. Condom was the first choice in more than a half of postpartum women, women with an induced abortion history, and those unmarried. We recommended that the administration authorities and family planning associations in China advocate long-acting reversible methods through policy-making and service guideline development. We also suggested that the national administrative center for contraceptive methods lead the negotiation on decision of purchasing the methods with production enterprises so as to acquire the best prices and best products. Furthermore, the unmarried people at reproductive age should be included in the national basic public health services projects to provide free contraceptive services.

Contraceptive methods; Contraceptive prevalence; Proportion; Temporal, spatial and population distribution