Historical abortion statistics, Australia

Abortion statistics and other data--Johnston`s Archive

Historical abortion statistics, Australia

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 3 November 2025

Definition of table data (see notes after table for additional information):

Live births.
Abortions, reported includes legal reported induced abortions.
Abortions (AWR) are combined reported and estimated abortion occurrences from the Abortion Worldwide Report and working papers.
Abortions, residents, in country only includes reported abortions obtained within the country by residents only.
Abortions, residents, obtained abroad includes reported abortions by country residents obtained in other countries.
Abortions, residents, total includes reported abortions by residents, obtained both within the country and abroad.
Fetal deaths generally includes fetal deaths or stillbirths of at least 20 weeks` gestation.
Miscarriages generally includes spontaneous fetal losses/ abortions, fetal deaths, or stillbirths, regardless of gestation period.
Abortion ratio is abortions per 1000 live births.
Abortion % is abortions as percentage of pregnancies (excluding fetal deaths/miscarriages).
Abortion rate, residents is abortions by residency per 1000 women ages 15-44.
Abortion rate, occurrences (AWR) is abortion occurrences from Abortion Worldwide Report figures per 1000 women ages 15-39.

Australia regional level data also available here.

year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions, estimated	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	abortions, illegal	miscarriages and abortions	fetal deaths	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions, estimated	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	abortions, illegal	miscarriages and abortions	fetal deaths	residents, in/out of country	all in country	residents, in/out of country	all in country	abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
1931				185				185
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936				233				233
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941				125				125
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948	177,976
1949	181,261
1950	190,591
1951	193,298			36				36
1952	201,650
1953	202,235
1954	202,256
1955	207,677
1956	212,133
1957	220,358
1958	222,504
1959	226,976
1960	230,326
1961	239,986			24				24
1962	237,081
1963	235,689
1964	229,149
1965	222,854
1966	222,626
1967	229,296
1968	240,906
1969	250,176
1970	257,516	1,440		1,440	(1,440)		1,440				5.6	5.6	0.56	0.56
1971	276,362	2,519		2,519	(2,519)	18	2,537				9.2	9.1	0.91	0.90
1972	264,969	2,692		(6,200)	(2,692)		2,692				10.2	10.2	1.01	1.01
1973	247,670	2,847		(9,800)	(2,847)		2,847				11.5	11.5	1.14	1.14
1974	245,177	2,867		(13,500)	(2,867)		2,867				11.7	11.7	1.16	1.16
1975	233,012	3,000		(17,200)	(3,000)		3,000				12.9	12.9	1.27	1.27
1976	227,810	3,289		(20,800)	(3,289)		3,289				14.4	14.4	1.42	1.42
1977	226,291	3,494		(24,500)	(3,494)		3,494				15.4	15.4	1.52	1.52
1978	224,181	3,895		(28,200)	(3,895)		3,895				17.4	17.4	1.71	1.71
1979	223,129	3,880		(31,800)	(3,880)		3,880				17.4	17.4	1.71	1.71
1980	225,527	4,081		(35,500)	(4,081)		4,081				18.1	18.1	1.78	1.78
1981	235,842	4,096		(39,200)	(4,096)		4,096				17.4	17.4	1.71	1.71
1982	239,903	4,061		(42,800)	(4,061)	40	4,101				17.1	16.9	1.68	1.66
1983	242,570	4,036	(46,500)	(46,500)	(4,036)	21	4,057				16.7	191.7	1.64	16.09
1984	234,034	54,600		54,600	(54,600)	50	54,650				233.5	233.3	18.93	18.92
1985	247,348	56,371	(65,240)	(66,000)	(56,371)	35	56,406				228.0	263.8	18.57	20.87	17.9
1986	243,408	59,876	(69,296)	(70,100)	(59,876)	32	59,908				246.1	284.7	19.75	22.16	18.6	21.67
1987	243,959	60,271	(69,752)	(70,500)	(60,271)		60,271			1,087	247.1	285.9	19.81	22.23	18.3	21.53
1988	246,193	62,420	(72,240)	(73,000)	(62,420)		62,420			1,141	253.5	293.4	20.23	22.69	18.5	21.99
1989	250,853	66,414	(76,862)	(77,700)	(66,414)		66,414			1,094	264.8	306.4	20.93	23.45	19.3	23.09
1990	262,648	69,223	(80,113)	(81,000)	(69,223)		69,223			1,198	263.6	305.0	20.86	23.37	19.9	23.83
1991	257,247	70,361	(81,430)	(82,300)	(70,361)	31	70,392			1,150	273.6	316.5	21.48	24.04	20.0	24.07
1992	264,151	73,448	(85,003)	(85,900)	(73,448)	32	73,480			1,171	278.2	321.8	21.76	24.35	20.8	25.04
1993	260,229	74,395	(85,153)	(86,100)	(74,395)		74,395			939	285.9	327.2	22.23	24.65	20.8	25.09
1994	258,051	81,101	(87,965)	(88,900)	81,101	32	81,133		77,627	898	314.4	340.9	23.92	25.42	21.5	25.93
1995	256,190	82,229	(90,182)	(91,200)	82,229	24	82,253		78,237	997	321.1	352.0	24.30	26.04	21.9	26.56
1996	253,834	82,391	(89,076)	(89,800)	82,391	23	82,414		78,072	1,053	324.7	350.9	24.51	25.98	22.0	26.07
1997	251,842	80,719	(87,497)	(88,100)	80,719	21	80,740		76,216		320.6	347.4	24.28	25.78	21.0	25.48
1998	(249,283)	80,293	(86,862)	(87,500)	80,293	14	80,307		75,788		322.2	348.4	24.37	25.84	20.8	25.26
1999	(246,573)	79,609	(85,731)	(86,300)	79,609	15	79,624		74,001		322.9	347.7	24.41	25.80	20.4	24.87
2000	249,636	81,090	(86,931)	(87,600)	81,090	21	81,111		75,543		324.9	348.2	24.52	25.83	20.6	25.16
2001	246,394	82,075	(88,306)	(89,000)	82,075	14	82,089		77,046	802	333.2	358.4	24.99	26.38	20.8	25.47
2002	250,988	80,845	(86,552)	(87,200)	80,845	13	80,858		75,906	751	322.2	344.8	24.37	25.64	20.3	24.88
2003	250,518	78,297	(84,460)	(85,100)	78,297	13	78,310		73,623	759	312.6	337.1	23.81	25.21	20.0	24.23
2004	253,652	76,980		(84,300)	76,980	18	76,998		72,897	732	303.6	303.5	23.29	23.28		23.94
2005	259,177	74,189		(81,100)	74,189	13	74,202		70,153	757	286.3	286.2	22.26	22.25		22.92
2006	265,423	76,488		(83,900)	76,488	10	76,498		67,016	903	288.2	288.2	22.37	22.37		23.51
2007	284,466	76,846		(84,000)	76,846	13	76,859			1,205	270.2	270.1	21.27	21.27		23.16
2008	296,621	77,256		(83,900)	77,256	5	77,261			1,323	260.5	260.5	20.66	20.66		22.59
2009	295,738	77,253	(74,100)	(83,600)	77,253	9	77,262				261.3	261.2	20.71	20.71		22.03
2010	297,903	77,826	(73,500)	77,826	77,826	11	77,837				261.3	261.2	20.72	20.71		20.24
2011	301,617	77,008	(73,500)	77,008	77,008	8	77,016				255.3	255.3	20.34	20.34		19.86
2012	309,582	67,328	(61,700)	(76,600)	67,328	8	67,336			1,046	217.5	217.5	17.86	17.86		19.55
2013	308,065	66,927	(61,100)	(76,800)	65,603	5	65,608			1,295	213.0	217.2	17.56	17.85		19.36
2014	299,697	68,880	(63,900)	(73,000)	68,880	7	68,887			1,209	229.9	229.8	18.69	18.69		18.18
2015	306,331	69,417	(65,400)	69,417	69,417	8	69,425			1,146	226.6	226.6	18.48	18.47		17.09
2016	311,832	69,255	(64,200)	69,255	69,255	7	69,232			364	222.0	222.1	18.17	18.17		16.81
2017	309,142	70,820	(65,100)	70,820	70,820		70,820			365	229.1	229.1	18.64	18.64		16.92
2018	315,147	67,126	(61,400)	67,126	67,126	7	67,133			353	213.0	213.0	17.56	17.56		15.81
2019	306,221	72,493	(69,200)	72,493	72,493	9	72,502			487	236.8	236.7	19.14	19.14		16.85
2020	294,370	66,738	(63,900)	66,738	66,738		66,738			494	226.7	226.7	18.48	18.48		15.33
2021	309,996	71,052	(65,000)	71,052	71,052		71,052			455	229.2	229.2	18.65	18.65		16.15
2022	300,684	73,829		73,829	73,829	4	73,833			503	245.6	245.5	19.71	19.71		16.61
2023	286,998	75,135		75,135	75,135		75,135			532	261.8	261.8	20.75	20.75		16.76
2024	292,318	75,456		75,456	75,456		75,456				258.1	258.1	20.52	20.52
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions, estimated	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	abortions, illegal	miscarriages and abortions	fetal deaths	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions, estimated	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	abortions, illegal	miscarriages and abortions	fetal deaths	residents, in/out of country	all in country	residents, in/out of country	all in country	abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)

Notes:

Parenthetical figures are estimates, some of which are derived from reported data.
Abortion ratios, percentages, and rates may be based on a mix of data from different sources and thus may not represent a consistent time series.

Sources:

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© 2000-2024, 2025 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 3 November 2025.
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