Contraception is a key aspect of sustainable development, helping people to achieve reproductive wishes and contributing to reduce abortions and the risk of maternal and child mortality. Considering these benefits, the United Nations aim to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. The number of women in need of contraception that are using contraceptives is increasing worldwide, but these numbers may vary depending on the region of the country, and on the sociodemographic characteristics of women. Our objective was to assess how modern contraceptive use changed from 2013 to 2018 in 11 low- and middle-income countries, and to analyze differences on modern contraceptive use according to the women’s sociodemographic characteristics. We divided modern contraceptives into three subtypes: short-acting reversible contraceptives (e.g. pills, condoms, etc.), long-acting reversible contraceptives (e.g. subdermal implants and intrauterine devices) and permanent methods (e.g. sterilization). Our results showed that, in general, the use of modern contraceptives increased. This increase was mostly influenced by a reduction on the use of short-acting contraceptives, which are giving space for the long-acting contraceptives. In Rajasthan, India, the scenario was different. There, sterilizations were the most commonly used contraceptive method. Regardless of the subtype of modern contraceptive, the proportions of richer, older and better educated women using modern contraceptives were higher compared to poorer, younger and worst educated women, respectively. There was an important progress on the use of modern contraceptives in the countries analyzed, but we are still far from reaching the universal coverage. Here, a free version of the article.