Postcoital contraceptive methods are available in most, but not all, countries and territories of the world. Emergency contraception pills (ECPs), also popularly called the “morning after pill”, are the most used method of emergency contraception. Three types of ECPs (with different active ingredients) are available:
- ECPs with 1,5 mg of levonorgestrel (LNG ECPs)
- ECPs with 30 mg of ulipristal acetate (UPA ECPs)
- ECPs with 10 to 25 mg of mifepristone (mife ECPs)
In order to access ECPs, EC products need to be available. Dedicated EC products with LNG, UPA, and mifepristone are packaged and labelled specifically for EC use. These products can only be accessed locally if they are registered and/or imported.
This page provides information about countries where LNG, UPA and mife ECPs are available, registered or imported. The previous summary of ECPs registration by country, was published in 2014 by the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception (see here). In 2023, ECEC updated this information. This summary is based on data from:
- Gedeon Richter and HRA Pharma product registration records (January 2023)
- DKT International sales report (2022)
- DADA Consultancy B.V, personal communication
- Contraceptive Security Indicators(CSI) Survey reports and technical brief on EC
- Asia Pacific Consortium for Emergency Contraception database
- European Consortium for Emergency Contraception database
We thank these organizations for kindly providing information of the registration status of their ECPs products worldwide. For more specific information about countries of the Asia Pacific region, visit the Asia Pacific Consortium for Emergency Contraception website. For more information about the United States of America, visit the American Society for Emergency Contraception. Data on EC trends in selected Africa, Asia and Latin American countries from the CSI reports, is available here. For more information about specific European countries, vist the section country-by-country information of our website.
Please note that different brands of one same type of ECP product can be registered with different status in the same country. One brand of LNG ECPs may be registered as OTC and another one as BTC in the same country.
| AVAILABILITY OF EC PILLS |
|---|
| ECPs with levonorgestrel (LNG) (either one pill of 1,5 mg or two pills of 0,75 mg formulations): |
| Available and/or registered as behind- or over-the counter (BTC and OTC) in 88 countries (registered or imported): |
| Argentina(**), Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Brazzaville, Congo (DRC), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinée (Conakry), Honduras(*), Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Portugal, Moldova (Rep. of), Romania, Russian Federation(***), Senegal, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa (Lesotho, Swaziland), Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Uruguay, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam |
| Available and/or registered as prescription products (Rx) in 35 countries: (In some countries they may be usually sold without prescription) |
| Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Curaçao, Dominican Rep., Ecuador, El Salvador, Egypt (Arab Rep.of), Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Yemen |
| Available but registration status unknown in 24 countries: |
| Afghanistan, Angola, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Palestine, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Unavailable (nor registered nor imported) in: |
| Philippines, North Korea (DPR of) |
(*): In Honduras, a total ban on ECPs was repealed on March 8, 2023, and LNG ECPs are registered in the country since mid 2023. (**): On May 2023, the Argentinian Ministry of Health announced the switch of LNG ECPs, to unrestricted sale products (producto de venta libre). A prescription will no longer be required to buy LNG ECPs. (***): In the Russian Federation, at least two brands of LNG ECPs were reclassified as non-prescription medicines in January 2024. |
| ECPs with ulipristal acetate (UPA) are registered and/or available in 76 countries: |
| Available and/or registered as over-the-counter (OTC) in 21 countries: |
| Albania, Australia, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ghana, Israel, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, South Africa, Sweden, United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
| Available and/or registered as behind-the-counter (BTC) in 34 countries: |
| Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia H, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Congo RDC, Croatia, Denmark, France (and Départements d’outre-mer, Territoires d’outre-mer), Gabon, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast (RCI), Kosovo, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Montenegro, Namibia, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, United Kingdom |
| Registered as pharmacy-only-products (with prescription) in 19 countries: |
| Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, Hong-Kong, Hungary, Macao, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, United States of America |
| Available but with no information on status in 2 countries: |
| Iceland, Liechtenstein |
| ECPs with mifepristone are available in 6 countries: |
| Available as behind-the-counter (BTC) in 1 country: |
| Moldova |
| Available as prescription products (Rx), in 5 countries: |
| Armenia, China, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Vietnam |
| ECEC has no information about any type of ECP availability in: |
| Algeria, American Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas (The), Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cook Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia (The), Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Iran, (Islamic Rep. of), Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, Nicaragua, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. |
ECEC will update this data periodically and
welcomes contributions to ensure information on each country is accurate.
Feedback can be sent to ecec [at] eeirh [dot] org.
Last update of EC availability data: 3 September 2024
Previous update: 12 April 2024, 28 November 2023, 26 October 2023, 4 July 2023, 17 March 2023, 8 March 2023, 7 March 2023, 6 March 2023
