The case for investing in family planning in the Pacific: costs and benefits of reducing unmet need for contraception in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands

Table 1 Key population, reproductive health, and economic estimates for the base year (2010) for Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands

Indicator	Vanuatu	Solomon Islands
Population size (number) [19, 20]	239,000	515,970
Annual population growth rate (%) [19, 20]	2.3	2.6
Total fertility rate [19, 20]	4.1	4.1
Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1000 women aged 15–19) [19, 20]	66	62
Proportion of women aged 15–49 married or in union (%) [19, 20]	65	61
Median months postpartum insusceptibility (months) [9]	11	11
Proportion of unwanted pregnancies ending in induced abortion (%) [21]	33	33
Proportion of women aged 45–49 who have never given birth (%) [19, 20]	7	7
Contraceptive prevalence rate, all methods (%) [9, 10]	38	35
Contraceptive prevalence rate, modern methods (%) [9, 10]	37	27
Proportion of women aged 15–49 and married or in union with unmet need for family planning (%) [8, 9]	30	11
Proportion of births with any avoidable risk† (%) [9]	55	55
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100,000 live births) [19, 22]	110	162
Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1000 live births) [19, 20]	21	23
Gross domestic product per capita (US$) [23]	2,526	1,147
Annual expenditure per primary student (US$) [24, 25]	363	192
Annual expenditure per secondary student (US$) [10, 24]	1,146	462
Annual health expenditure per capita (US$) [26]	104	72

† Births to women aged <18 or >34 years; births spaced <24 months apart; birth order 4 or more.

ISSN: 1742-4755