Contraception assists individuals and couples to achieve their reproductive goals and enables them to exercise the right to have children by choice. World Family Planning 2022 presents the latest trends and patterns in contraceptive use at the global, regional and national levels. The report assesses levels and trends in contraceptive use and needs of women of reproductive age between 1990 and 2021, including the proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods of contraception (SDG indicator 3.7.1). The report also examines how contraceptive use and needs vary by women’s age and highlights gaps in meeting…

Demographic Yearbook 2021 is the the 72nd issue in a series published since 1948. Through the cooperation with the National Statistical Offices, official demographic statistics are compiled in the Yearbook, as available, for more than 230 countries and areas of the world up to the reference year 2021. This edition of the Yearbook contains chapters on the population size and distribution, the population of capital cities, fertility, foetal mortality, infant and maternal mortality, general mortality, nuptiality and divorce.

The present Handbook on Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management Systems: Communication for Development provides guidance and assistance to countries to help them to strategically design and carry out evidence-based and measurable communication for development activities in support of a comprehensive improvement programme of civil registration, vital statistics and identity management systems. It is the first revision of the Handbook on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: Developing Information, Education and Communication, issued in 1998.

The United Nations E-Government Survey 2022 is the 12th edition of the United Nations’ assessment of the digital government landscape across all 193 Member States. The E-Government Survey is informed by over two decades of longitudinal research, with a ranking of countries based on the United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI), a combination of primary data (collected and owned by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and secondary data from other UN agencies.

This edition of the Survey includes data analysis in global and regional contexts, a study of local e-government development based on the United Nations Local Online Service Index (LOSI),…

The Statistical Yearbook provides in a single volume a comprehensive compilation of internationally available statistics on social and economic conditions and activities, at world, regional and national levels, for an appropriate historical period. It is prepared by the Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of the United Nations Secretariat.

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 provides a global overview of progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, using the latest available data and estimates. It tracks the global and regional progress towards the 17 Goals with in-depth analyses of selected indicators for each Goal.

According to the Report, cascading and interlinked crises are putting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in grave danger, along with humanity’s very own survival. The Report highlights the severity and magnitude of the challenges before us. The confluence of crises, dominated by COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts, are creating spin-off impacts on…

World Population Prospects 2022 is the twenty-seventh edition of the official United Nations population estimates and projections. It presents population estimates from 1950 to the present for 237 countries or areas, underpinned by analyses of historical demographic trends. This latest assessment considers the results of 1,758 national population censuses conducted between 1950 and 2022, as well as information from vital registration systems and from 2,890 nationally representative sample surveys. 

The 2022 revision also presents population projections to the year 2100 that reflect a range of plausible outcomes at the global, regional and national levels. For the first time,…

Developing countries still have to regain lost ground from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has put more countries at risk of debt distress, constrained their fiscal space and hampered economic growth. The war in Ukraine is exacerbating all these challenges. In this context, the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report identifies a “great finance divide” – the inability of poorer countries to raise sufficient resources and borrow affordably for investment.

The great finance divide leaves developing countries unable to respond to crises and invest in sustainable development. On average, developed countries use 3.5 per cent of revenue to pay interest on their debt,…

The World Population Policies 2021: Policies related to fertility, provides a brief overview of global fertility levels and trends since the early 1960s and explores government’s views and policies related to fertility. The analysis of views and policies draws on data gathered through 2019 and available in the World Population Policies Database, reflecting the situation before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The report then presents five case studies of countries from different regions and with a range of fertility levels, exploring in more detail the origin and evolution of national fertility policies. The case studies are followed by an assessment of…

Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development probes the linkages between global population growth and the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The report examines how the current rapid growth of the human population is a consequence of the demographic transition from high to low levels of mortality and fertility. The report reviews the connections between population growth and key aspects of social and economic development, including poverty, hunger and malnutrition, health, education, gender equality, economic growth and decent work. It also explores the contribution of global population increase to environmental degradation, including…

The global economic recovery is facing significant headwinds amid new waves of COVID-19 infections, persistent labour market challenges, lingering supply-chain challenes and rising inflationary pressures. After expanding by 5.5 per cent in 2021, the global output is projected to grow by only 4.0 per cent in 2022 and 3.5 per cent in 2023, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022.

The robust recovery in 2021 – driven by strong consumer spending and some uptake in investment, with trade in goods surpassing pre-pandemic levels — marked the highest growth rate in more than four decades, the Report highlighted. Yet the momentum for growth –…