The United Nations Population Division convened the Expert Group Meeting on Completing the Fertility Transition in March of 2002 to discuss guidelines for fertility change proposed by the Division for use in intermediate-fertility countries. The Population Division uses fertility guidelines to prepare the official United Nations population projections for every country and region in the world. Until recently, the guidelines stipulated that fertility in intermediate-fertility countries would not fall below replacement level by 2050. This has become less and less tenable as fertility in more and more countries, developing as well as developed, has fallen to and remained at, levels well below replacement. This report provides a summary record of that meeting including the agenda, organization of work, list of participants, list of documents, and summaries of the 30 papers presented and of the discussions that occurred during the meeting.

This series focuses on population studies carried out by the United Nations, its specialized agencies and other organizations. This issue deals with the guidelines for the projection of fertility. The publication aims to increase understanding of likely fertility trends in the diverse countries of the world.

The report presents findings from the 2018 revision of World Urbanization Prospects, which contains the latest estimates of the urban and rural populations or areas from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2050, as well as estimates of population size from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2030 for all urban agglomerations with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018. The world urban population is at an all-time high, and the share of urban dwellers, is projected to represent two thirds of the global population in 2050. Continued urbanization will bring new opportunities and challenges for sustainable development.

The main contents are key findings and messages regarding the relationship between contraceptive use and fertility, for 195 countries or areas of the world. These highlights will draw mainly from World Population Prospects 2019, and model-based estimates and projections of family planning indicators 2019. Policy-related implications of and responses to trends in family planning and fertility will be integrated throughout the text. In particular, these issues are of relevance for contextualizing Sustainable Development Goals 3.7.1. and 3.7.2. and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

This series focuses on population studies carried out by the United Nations, its specialized agencies and other organizations. This issue deals with the guidelines for the projection of fertility. The publication aims to increase understanding of likely fertility trends in the diverse countries of the world.