How many people go to family planning clinics, who are they and what forms of contraception do they leave with? New numbers show seismic shifts in people's contraception choices

Contraceptive clinics in England have released fascinating statistics on everything from spermicide to emergency contraception. The results show almost two-decades worth of changes in the way people try to make sure that sex doesn't equate to parenthood. Here are eight things we found out.

1. More men, fewer women going to contraception clinics

Here's a fact that rarely reaches the public: the percentage of women going to contraceptive clinics has declined since 1998, while the percentage of men has increased.

One reason why that is rarely reported on is because there is still such a massive gap in the numbers - 8 women for every man going to seek contraceptive advice (if that's still hard to imagine, it's 10.5% of women and 1.3% of men). Nevertheless the trend is interesting.

2. More people want it to be long-lasting (and reversible)

There are two main types of contraception: those that are user dependent (i.e. those that require a good diary or a good memory) and those that aren't user dependent.

The second type are known as long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) and they include things like implants and injections. It's that second category that has seen the biggest change, with use almost doubling since 1997.

Despite that, user-dependent methods remain more popular across the country as a whole. Oral contraceptions remain the first choice for many women while use of spermicides has plummeted from 84,000 in 1997 to 6,000 this year and diaphragms are down from 35,000 to 2,000.

You might be wondering where condoms fit in, we'll come to that further down - this is just data on prescriptions from contraceptive clinics.

3. Less emergency contraception

In 1998, 760,000 emergency contraceptive pills were handed out in the community and at clinics in England. By 2012/13, that had dropped to 360,000 (52% less).

4. Fewer vasectomies and female sterilisations

In 1998, 81,300 people in England were sterilised, 49.9% of them were women. These days, that number has dropped to just 24,400 and the gender balance has shifted as 37.2% of those are female sterilisations. That might also explain why the number of people changing their mind has also dropped - from 700 people reversing their sterilisation in 1998 to just 100 last year.

5. 4,500 using the 'natural method'

There is a chance people are unwilling to admit to 'contraception voodoo' - especially when they're sat in an NHS clinic so the fact that 4,500 people claimed they were using natural family planning might be an underestimate. It's also worth noting that almost a third of those using natural methods were aged 35 and over (and a further third were aged 25-34).

6. Condoms less popular

Back in 1998, 36% of people going to a contraceptive clinic walked out with some male condoms. Now it's 28%.

7. Less younger people, more older people

Compared to 1998, 11,000 fewer males and 7,000 fewer females aged under 16 went to contraceptive clinics for the first time. The biggest increase has been in the 20-24 year-old age group where numbers have increased by 18% for females and 150% for males.

Differences in fertility might explain some of the other trends - the number of men aged over 35 going to contraceptive clinics has risen by a quarter since 2003, while for women it's almost unchanged.

8. Londoners least likely to use injections

There are clear regional trends here. 7% of Londoners choose injectable contraceptions, compared to 16% of people in the North East of the country. In the North West, 15.5% of women will go to a contraceptive clinic at some point, compared to just 6.5% of women in the East of England.

Why do you think these trends are the way they are? Tell us what you think in the comments

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