Historical abortion statistics, England and Wales (UK)

Historical abortion statistics, England and Wales (UK)

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 10 October 2007

year	live births	abortions, legal	abortions, residents only	abortions, nonresidents	miscarriages	abortion ratio	abortion %
1938	621,204				24,729
1939	614,479				24,320
1940	590,120				22,779
1941	579,091				20,876
1942	651,503				22,383
1943	684,334				21,262
1944	751,478				21,306
1945	679,937				19,333
1946	820,719				22,915
1947	881,026				21,795
1948	775,306				18,399
1949	730,518				16,947
1950	697,097				16,084
1951	677,529				15,985
1952	673,735				15,636
1953	684,372				15,681
1954	673,651				16,200
1955	667,811				15,829
1956	700,335				16,405
1957	723,381				16,615
1958	740,715				16,288
1959	748,501				15,901
1960	785,005				15,819
1961	811,281	14,300			15,727	18	1.7
1962	838,736	16,800			15,464	20	2.0
1963	854,055	16,600			14,989	19	1.9
1964	875,972	18,300			14,546	21	2.0
1965	862,725	19,500			13,841	23	2.2
1966	849,823	21,400			13,243	25	2.5
1967	832,164	27,200			12,528	33	3.2
1968	819,272	23,641	22,332	1,309	11,848	27	2.7
1969	797,538	56,819	49,829	4,990	10,654	62	5.9
1970	784,486	86,565	75,962	10,603	10,345	97	8.8
1971	783,155	126,777	94,570	32,207	9,899	121	10.8
1972	725,440	159,884	108,565	51,319	8,799	150	13.0
1973	675,953	167,149	110,568	56,581	7,936	164	14.1
1974	639,885	162,940	109,445	53,495	7,175	171	14.6
1975	603,445	139,702	106,224	33,478	6,295	176	15.0
1976	584,270	129,673	101,912	27,761	5,709	174	14.9
1977	569,259	133,004	102,677	30,327	5,405	180	15.3
1978	596,418	141,558	111,851	29,707	5,108	188	15.8
1979	638,028	149,746	120,611	29,135	5,125	189	15.9
1980	656,234	160,903	128,927	31,976	4,773	196	16.4
1981	634,492	162,480	128,581	33,899	4,207	203	16.9
1982	625,931	163,045	128,553	34,492	3,939	205	17.0
1983	629,134	162,161	127,375	34,786	3,631	202	16.8
1984	636,818	169,993	136,388	33,605	3,643	214	17.6
1985	656,417	171,873	141,101	30,772	3,645	215	17.7
1986	661,018	172,286	147,619	24,667	3,549	223	18.3
1987	681,511	174,276	156,191	18,085	3,423	229	18.6
1988	693,577	183,798	168,298	15,500	3,382	243	19.5
1989	687,725	183,974	170,463	13,511	3,236	248	19.9
1990	706,140	186,912	173,900	13,012	3,256	246	19.8
1991	699,217	179,522	167,376	12,146	3,254	239	19.3
1992	689,656	172,069	160,501	11,568	2,944	233	18.9
1993	673,467	168,714	157,846	10,868	3,855	234	19.0
1994	664,726	166,876	156,539	10,337	3,813	235	19.1
1995	648,138	163,638	154,315	9,323	3,600	238	19.2
1996	649,485	177,495	167,916	9,579	3,539	259	20.5
1997	643,095	179,746	170,145	9,601	3,439	265	20.9
1998	635,901	187,402	177,871	9,531	3,417	280	21.9
1999	621,872	183,250	173,701	9,549	3,305	279	21.8
2000	604,441	185,375	175,542	9,833	3,203	290	22.5
2001	594,634	186,274	176,364	9,910	3,159	297	22.8
2002	596,122	185,385	175,932	9,453	3,372	295	22.8
2003	621,469	190,660	181,582	9,078		292	22.6
2004	639,721	194,498	185,713	8,785
2005		194,353	186,416	7,937
2006		201,173	193,737	7,436
year	live births	abortions, legal	abortions, residents only	abortions, nonresidents	miscarriages	abortion ratio	abortion %

Note: See Abortion Statistics page for explanatory notes and sources.

Sources:

Government Statistical Service, 21 July 2004, "Statistical Bulletin: Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2002," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/00/59/04080059.PDF].
Government Statistical Service, 27 July 2005, "Statistical Bulletin: Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2003," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/66/26/04116626.pdf].
Government Statistical Service, 27 July 2005, "Statistical Bulletin: Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2004," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/66/35/04116635.pdf].
Government Statistical Service, 19 June 2007, "Statistical Bulletin: Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2007," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=142305&Rendition=Web].
Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2000, 2001, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB27/AB_No27_V1.pdf].
Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2001, 2002, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB28_2001/AB28_2001.pdf].
Office of National Statistics, "Births, 1938-2002, stillbirths", 2004, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/xsdataset.asp?More=Y].
Office of National Statistics, "Live Births, 1938-2002", 2004, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/xsdataset.asp?More=Y].
Office of National Statistics, Review of the Registrar General on births and patterns of family building in England and Wales, 2001, 2002, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Fm1_30/FM1N30.pdf].
Office of National Statistics, "Table 4.2 Abortions: residents and non-residents, age and gestation (residents only)," 2004, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D7627.xls].
Tietze, Christopher, 1975, "Incidence of Legal Abortion," pp. 1-17, in Liberalization of Abortion Laws: Implications, ed. by Abdel R. Omran, Carolina Population Center (Chapel Hill, NC).

© 2000-2005, 2007 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 10 October 2007.
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