Prescription Status of Birth Control Pills around the World - OTC Birth Control Pills

Source: BruceBlaus, “Birth Control Pills,” wikimedia.org, Feb. 22, 2016, Creative Commons license

Of the 141 countries listed below, 42 countries (29.7%) require a prescription for birth control pills, 47 countries (33.3%) officially require no prescription (though 10 require a health screening), and 52 countries (36.9%) informally allow birth control pills to be distributed without a prescription.

Using 2020 World Bank population estimates, 80.29% of the world’s population lived in a country that did not require a prescription for birth control pills: 55.56% of the population in a country that officially required no prescription and 24.73% that unofficially required no prescription. That leaves about 15.30% of the population in countries where the birth control pill required a prescription. (The percentages won’t add up to 100% because not all countries have available data.)

Country	Rx Required	Available without Rx (health screening required)	Available without Rx (no health screening required)	Informally Available without Rx	2020 Population (in thousands)	% of 2020 World Population
Afghanistan			X		38,928.34	0.50%
Albania				X	2,837.74	0.04%
Algeria				X	43,851.04	0.56%
Angola			X		32,866.27	0.42%
Argentina				X	45,376.76	0.58%
Armenia				X	2,963.23	0.04%
Aruba				X	106.77	0.00%
Australia	X				25,687.04	0.33%
Austria	X				8,917.20	1.11%
Azerbaijan	X				10,093.12	0.13%
Bahamas				X	393.25	0.01%
Bahrain				X	1,701.58	0.02%
Bangladesh			X		164,689.38	2.12%
Belarus	X				9,379.95	0.12%
Belgium	X				11,556.00	0.15%
Belize			X		397.62	0.01%
Bhutan				X	771.61	0.01%
Bolivia				X	11,673.03	0.15%
Bosnia & Herzegovina			X		3,280.82	0.04%
Botswana	X				2,351.63	0.03%
Brazil				X	212,559.41	2.74%
Bulgaria	X				6,934.02	0.09%
Burkina Faso	X				20,903.28	0.27%
Cambodia			X		16,718.97	0.22%
Cameroon				X	26,545.86	0.34%
Canada	X				38,005.24	0.49%
Cape Verde	X				555.99	0.01%
Chad				X	16,425.86	0.21%
Chile				X	19,116.21	0.25%
China			X		1,410,929.36	18.12%
Colombia				X	50,882.88	0.60%
Costa Rica				X	5,094.11	0.07%
Croatia	X				4,047.20	0.05%
Cuba			X		11,326.62	0.15%
Czech Republic	X				10,698.90	0.14%
Democratic Congo				X	89,561.40	1.15%
Denmark	X				5,831.40	0.08%
Djibouti			X		988	0.01%
Dominican Republic			X		10,847.90	0.14%
Ecuador				X	17,643.06	0.23%
Egypt			X		102,334.40	1.32%
El Salvador			X		6,486.20	0.08%
Equatorial Guinea				X	1,402.98	0.02%
Estonia	X				1,331.06	0.02%
Ethiopia			X		114,963.58	1.48%
Finland	X				5,530.72	0.07%
France	X				67,391.58	0.87%
Gabon				X	2,225.73	0.03%
Georgia				X	3,714.00	0.05%
Germany	X				83,240.52	1.07%
Ghana		X			31,072.94	0.40%
Greece			X		10,715.55	0.14%
Grenada				X	112.52	0.00%
Guatemala			X		16,858.33	0.22%
Guinea		X			13,132.79	0.17%
Haiti			X		11,402.53	0.15%
Honduras			X		9,904.61	0.13%
Hong Kong			X		7,481.80	0.10%
Hungary	X				9,749.76	0.13%
Iceland	X				366.43	0.00%
India			X		1,380,004.39	17.78%
Indonesia				X	273,523.62	3.52%
Iran				X	83,992.95	1.08%
Ireland	X				4,994.72	0.06%
Israel	X				9,216.90	0.12%
Italy	X				59,554.02	0.77%
Ivory Coast				X	26,378.28	0.34%
Jamaica		X			2,961.16	0.04%
Japan	X				125,836.02	1.62%
Jordan	X				10,203.14	0.13%
Kazakhstan				X	18,754.44	0.24%
Kenya			X		53,771.30	0.69%
Kuwait			X		4,270.56	0.06%
Laos				X	7,275.56	0.09%
Lebanon				X	6,825.44	0.09%
Lesotho				X	2,142.25	0.03%
Liberia				X	5,057.68	0.07%
Lithuania	X				2,794.70	0.04%
North Macedonia				X	2,072.53	0.03%
Madagascar				X	27,691.02	0.36%
Malawi			X		19,129.96	0.25%
Malaysia		X			32,366.00	0.42%
Mali				X	20,250.83	0.26%
Malta	X				525.28	0.01%
Marshall Islands	X				59.19	0.00%
Mexico				X	128,932.75	1.66%
Moldova				X	2,620.49	0.03%
Mongolia				X	3,278.29	0.04%
Morocco				X	36,910.56	0.48%
Mozambique				X	31,255.44	0.40%
Namibia	X				2,540.92	0.03%
Nepal		X			29,136.81	0.38%
Netherlands	X				17,441.14	0.22%
New Zealand	X				5,084.30	0.06%
Nigeria				X	206,139.59	2.66%
Norway	X				5,379.48	0.07%
Pakistan			X		220,892.33	2.85%
Palestine				X	4,803.27	0.06%
Panama				X	4,314.77	0.06%
Paraguay			X		7,132.53	0.09%
Peru				X	32,971.85	0.42%
Philippines				X	109,581.09	1.41%
Poland	X				37,950.80	0.49%
Portugal				X	10,305.56	0.13%
Romania				X	19,286.12	0.25%
Russia				X	144,104.08	1.86%
Rwanda		X			12,952.21	0.17%
Saudi Arabia	X				34,813.87	0.45%
Senegal			X		16,743.93	0.22%
Serbia			X		6,908.22	0.09%
Singapore	X				5,685.81	0.07%
Slovakia	X				5,458.83	0.07%
Slovenia				X	2,100.13	0.03%
South Africa	X				59,308.69	0.76%
South Korea			X		51,780.58	0.67%
Spain	X				47,351.57	0.61%
Sri Lanka			X		21,919.00	0.28%
Sudan			X		43,849.27	0.56%
Eswatini			X		1,160.16	0.01%
Sweden	X				10,353.44	0.13%
Switzerland	X				8,636.90	0.11%
Syria			X		17,500.66	0.22%
Tajikistan				X	9,537.64	0.12%
Tanzania		X			59,734.21	0.77%
Thailand			X		69,799.98	0.90%
Togo				X	8,278.74	0.11%
Trinidad & Tobago			X		1,399.49	0.02%
Tunisia		X			11,818.62	0.15%
Turkey				X	84,339.07	1.09%
Turkmenistan			X		6,031.19	0.08%
Uganda		X			45,741.00	0.59%
Ukraine			X		44,134.69	0.57%
United Arab Emirates			X		9,890.40	0.13%
United Kingdom	X				67,215.29	0.87%
United States	X				329,484.12	4.25%
Uruguay				X	3,473.73	0.04%
Venezuela			X		28,435.94	0.37%
Vietnam		X			97,338.58	1.25%
Yemen				X	29,825.97	0.38%
Zambia				X	18,383.96	0.24%
Zimbabwe	X				14,862.93	0.19%

Source

OCs OTC Working Group, “Global Oral Contraception Availability,” ocsotc.org (accessed Mar. 10, 2022)

World Bank, “Population, Total,” data.worldbank.org (accessed Mar. 17, 2022)

People who view this page may also like:
1. Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?
2. Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care?