Updated estimates of the incidence of abortion worldwide

Reliable information on abortion levels and trends worldwide, and on regional variations in incidence, are important in light of the implications for family planning programs and policies and because it can influence the discourse around abortion laws and policies. Moreover, these findings can inform estimates of the economic and health burdens of unsafe abortion. Accurate information on abortion incidence is, however, very difficult to obtain.

Although official abortion statistics are generally collected in countries in which abortion is legal under broad criteria, these statistics are sometimes incomplete or lacking. In countries where abortion law is highly restrictive, official statistics are not available. We draw on a variety of data sources and methods of estimation to develop the best possible measures of the number of induced abortions that occur annually worldwide and in each major region of the world, building on a methodology developed by the World Health Organization. We also estimate the abortion rate and the percent of all pregnancies that end in abortion. We assess abortion levels by region, the proportion of all abortions that occur outside the law, the levels of abortion in developed and developing countries, and trends in all these categories of abortion.

The estimated number of abortions worldwide and the abortion rate for 2003 are lower than those estimated for 1995, but the trends vary significantly across regions. About 1 in 10 pregnancies ends in abortion. We present results in greater detail and discuss possible explanations for the observed levels and trends.