Historical international adoption statistics, United States and world

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 12 November 2022

Introduction: The following tables are presented:

Data are from multiple sources, sometimes using unconsistent methods or reporting periods (e.g. fiscal year vs. calendar year) such that time series may not be uniform. Some data are incomplete; "unspecified" sending nation in table 1 indicates adoptions with unspecified source nation in available data. Sources are listed following the tables.

Also see Historical adoption statistics and child population/welfare statistics, United States.

Graphs of some of the tabulated data:


Table 1: United States international adoptions by sending nation/region, 1953-2021

yearTotalChina, PRRussiaNorth America (less USA)Asia (less PRC, Russia, ROK)Korea, Republic ofEurope (less Russia)AfricaSouth AmericaOceania and Australiaunknownnot available
19534,300    4     4,296
1954     8      
1955     59      
1956     668      
195710,900    485     10,415
1958     922      
1959     737      
1960     627      
1961     655      
1962385   0244     141
19631,312   20439     853
19641,651   60441     1,150
19651,448   40421     987
19661,679   20392     1,267
19671,905   50450     1,405
19681,602   60624     918
19692,080   50755     1,275
19702,409   80998     1,331
19712,724   801,252     1,392
19723,023   1201,671     1,232
19734,015   3102,329     1,376
19744,770   9902,661     1,119
19755,633   6502,995     1,988
19766,552   204,008     2,524
19776,493   103,711     2,772
19785,315   02,942     2,373
19794,862    2,347     2,515
19805,139    2,404     2,735
19814,868    2,684     2,184
19825,749    3,862     1,887
19837,127   04,854     2,273
19848,3270  805,348     2,899
19859,28516  06,021     3,248
19869,94510   6,138     3,797
198710,09711 0 5,9910    4,095
19889,12012 13105,07711    3,889
19898,10217 1781193,54421 0  4,223
19907,09329 7439192,6201350978  1,669
19919,0506109911,2561,8182,751151,914  244
19926,5362063241,0469711,840480371,447  185
19937,3773307461,1031,0381,775712311,470  172
19948,3337871,5308251,2571,795740541,184  161
19959,6792,1301,8967181,2861,666655661,040  222
199611,3403,3332,4546831,2501,5161,07047780  207
199713,6213,5973,8161,1981,2341,6541,256143540  183
199815,7744,2064,4911,3541,8211,8291,0441485190 362
199916,3694,1084,3811,3921,9312,0081,70115045850235
200018,8575,0584,2861,8792,8281,7842,3532064521010
200119,6524,7054,2921,9853,2841,8622,7303364321970
200221,4676,1164,9502,7733,0571,7761,9663414671920
200321,6546,8575,2212,7652,6471,7931,4834234025940
200422,9917,0385,8623,8642,0231,7131,3876054484470
200522,7347,9034,6314,2951,8321,6281,10686544321100
200620,6806,4923,7024,6931,9071,3736591,340502750
200719,6085,4532,3035,1672,5769388691,8344501350
200817,4563,9121,8574,6492,3991,0647142,409438950
200912,7443,0001,5861,2911,8661,0797692,7653513340
201011,0583,4011,0793681,1648656573,1473412790
20119,3192,5879622759667368752,5482976760
20128,6682,6977483156606276902,6102942700
20137,0942,3062506455651387942,0982653300
20146,4412,04026845453709101,5842634300
20155,6482,35403405373187681,0932053300
20165,3722,23103316052607281,0221761900
20174,7141,90503755612765527932322000
20184,0591,47503346252065306112661200
20192,9708190265523166530371291500
20201,6222020168291188364231169900
20211,78500162448156413283317600
yearTotalChina, PRRussiaNorth America (less USA)Asia (less PRC, ROK)Korea, Republic ofEurope (less Russia)AfricaSouth AmericaOceania and Australiaunknownnot available
1999-2021282,60182,65946,11239,01533,84021,32423,54827,6657,95947966295
percent100.0029.2516.3213.8111.977.558.339.792.820.170.020.10

Table 2: United States international adoptions by sending nation, 1953-2021, for sending nations with highest totals for 1999-2021

yearChina, PRRussiaGuatemalaKorea, Republic ofEthiopiaUkraineKazakhstanIndiaVietnamColombiaHaitiPhilippinesRomaniaCambodiaChina, Republic ofBulgariaNigeriaUgandaCongo, DRLiberiaPolandGhanaMexicoThailandJamaicaLatviaBelarus
1953   4                       
1954   8                       
1955   59                       
1956   668                       
1957   485                       
1958   922                       
1959   737                       
1960   627                       
1961   655                       
1962   244    0                  
1963   439    20                  
1964   441    60                  
1965   421    40                  
1966   392    20                  
1967   450    50                  
1968   624    60                  
1969   755    50                  
1970   998    80                  
1971   1,252    80                  
1972   1,671    120                  
1973   2,329    310                  
1974   2,661    990                  
1975   2,995    650                  
1976   4,008    20                  
1977   3,711    10                  
1978   2,942    0                  
1979   2,347    0                  
1980   2,404    0                  
1981   2,684    0                  
1982   3,862    0                  
1983   4,854    0                  
1984   5,348    80                  
198516  6,021    0                  
198610  6,138    0                  
198711  5,991    0                  
198812  5,077    0 40    0           
198917  3,544    10 80 3  1       109   
199029 2572,620   34850 64421121  3      112100   
199161 3291,818150044537521493932,59460549    92 971314150
19922063244181,84037551352224041635712115369100 01090918627421
19933307465121,7753027319331110426513609713213300 17009169481536
19947871,5304361,7955416438412220351613411993359700 0940854735336
19952,1301,8964491,6666341637131835049298275102311000 3300835345597
19963,3332,4544271,516441138035425568229555321916300 36407655348236
19973,5973,8167881,6548259263494252331421636216619148150 38780152633110849
19984,2064,4919691,829961805447860323612120040624930151110 97791688438762
19994,1084,3811,0022,00842323113499709231961948951613212580017982113678525632
20005,0584,2861,5161,784956583825007282451301711,1197972821441125841310687392546
20014,7054,2921,6101,8621651,24065854273626519221978281142296333647961872685127128
20026,1164,9502,4191,7761051,094810461766335187218169384492604518023114861673832167
20036,8575,2212,3281,793165692828473382272248211200147107198473727111661713617186
20047,0385,8623,2641,71328479483540621285355199574710811070161861011389705215201
20057,9034,6313,7831,6284428247553237287234268261413065171118373228871622821
20066,4923,7024,1351,3737314635883191633443102480218728621243536727705649240
20075,4532,3034,7269381,25461354741182830919126030184203354103148438896646340
20083,9121,8574,1121,0641,72349037930874830630129120266514855924977971055939380
20093,0001,5867541,0792,275610295297481238330281502531510969213550103725654280
20103,4011,079508652,5114501812419235133216002824018962414850117525359400
20112,587962327361,7326408622602163322900205751492071332952992244100561
20122,69774876271,56839501590195154125001771251972382403435171215743820
20132,306250231389934380119015938817800941591832763131249170213679890
20142,0402293707165210136017246417230691831302012301653124122861800
20152,354013318335303013801531431503059185154202168860852447421700
20162,231022601833030194131311781565059201121187359109829174556811
20171,9050127631321502213018122711120441471765526206521123451710
20181,475012061772480302282291961056032134173269303415264340790
20198190016610298024132244130945043134116301051611273844380
20202020018862110103151379639404299831512931112330202
20210001560235024511297546840481081118027710273820280
1999-202182,65946,11229,80721,32415,82512,0586,4576,8645,7075,4664,7704,2033,2662,3552,5512,8912,4061,7551,6001,6731,4671,2191,2211,2351,1431,158785
yearChina, PRRussiaGuatemalaKorea, Republic ofEthiopiaUkraineKazakhstanIndiaVietnamColombiaHaitiPhilippinesRomaniaCambodiaChina, Republic ofBulgariaNigeriaUgandaCongo, DRLiberiaPolandGhanaMexicoThailandJamaicaLatviaBelarus

Table 3: Intercountry adoption statistics by receiving nations, 1969-2021

yearAustraliaBelgiumCanadaCyprusDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLuxembourgMaltaNetherlandsNew ZealandNorwaySpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited KingdomUnited States*all
1969                   1,031  2,0803,336
1970               192 115 1,150  2,4094,059
1971                   1,369  2,7245,050
1972                   1,364  3,0235,591
1973                   1,314  4,0156,932
1974                   1,443  4,7708,387
1975               1,018 397 1,517  5,6339,388
1976                   1,791  6,55210,354
1977                   1,864  6,49310,701
1978                   1,625  5,3159,325
1979                   1,382  4,8628,611
1980               1,594 384 1,704  5,13911,312
1981                   1,789  4,86811,997
1982                   1,474  5,74912,945
1983                   1,651  7,12714,672
1984                   1,493  8,32716,184
1985               1,138 507 1,560  9,28518,362
1986                   1,542  9,94519,451
1987                   1,355  10,09719,622
1988516662232 523782,441875    2,078  577 566931,074492 9,12019,327
1989                   883  8,10219,073
1990               830 500 965  7,09317,000
1991                   1,113  9,05018,500
1992                   1,115  6,53616,500
1993  1,740   2,783     1,696  574   934923 7,37718,609
1994  2,045   3,075     1,712  594   959741 8,33320,377
1995  2,022   3,028 236   2,161  661 488 895665 9,67922,723
1996  2,064   3,666     2,649  704   908742 11,34024,953
1997  1,799   3,528     2,019  666   834733 13,62126,813
19982454872,222126241813,777922 15147 2,23360 8253716431,48792845625815,77431,985
19992444502,019166971493,597977 142142142,17766 9933565892,0061,01939131216,36932,974
2000  1,866            1,193 589 981  18,85734,207
20012894191,874106312183,094798 171792691,79756 1,1223587133,4281,04445832619,65236,752
20022944441,92636092463,551884 193571652,22547 1,1302637473,6251,10747828521,46739,872
20032784302,18035232383,995674 303582562,77251231,1542787143,9511,04665630121,65441,565
20043704701,95535282894,079749 283982263,40256461,3073517065,5411,10955733222,99145,493
20054344711,87135853084,136721 413661912,84041391,185305825,4231,08338936922,73443,857
20064213831,53504502183,977662 193131763,1884560816204484,47287941036320,68039,742
20074053581,713194261763,162783 183922183,4202364778494263,64880039435619,60837,526
20082703641,915163951573,271718 134221503,9772853767303043,15679336722517,45634,847
20092694392,122124961873,017606 173071203,9643634682163473,00691234920012,74429,867
20102223881,94644191603,508524 182011144,1304042705193432,89172938817511,05829,005
20112153511,513123381632,003624 191881154,0222450528193042,5736303671539,31923,555
20121492601,16212191751,569452 17119883,1063257488252391,6695423141208,66819,513
20131381781,24321761411,343289 872692,8251719401421441,1914501591247,09416,264
201411415690521241421,069227 1134422,20613113542215282740892686,44113,567
2015 8313789549793815200 2082372,21618183041213280140092585,64812,280
20168212179008458956196 554221,8721962142212657434273645,37211,102
2017691246210797068596 653171,43916452102312554229775604,7149,387
2018651046580645461591 541171,3941253156189545626252714,0568,357
201957755763466742185 533111,2051831145138937517062522,9716,527
202037524160232724481 5296669587012401959235531,6223,729
2021                      1,785 
yearAustraliaBelgiumCanadaCyprusDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLuxembourgMaltaNetherlandsNew ZealandNorwaySpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited KingdomUnited States*all

Table 4, part 1: Intercountry adoption statistics by sending nations, 1988-2021

yearBelarusBoliviaBrazilBulgariaBurkina FasoCambodiaChileChina, PRChina, Republic ofColumbiaCongo, DREthiopiaGhanaGuatemalaHaitiHong KongHungaryIndiaIvory CoastJamaicaKazakhstan
1988                  1,661   
1989                  1,213   
1990                  1,272   
1991                     
1992                  1,007   
1993                     
1994                     
1995   991               1,236   
1996                     
1997                     
1998   637   347      481      1,571   
1999   630   403        1,453    1,615   
2000  60  214  596  5,095  246  95  1,518 131   1,364   399
2001    297  565  7,725  266  728  1,609 192   1,298  51 672
2002   358   626  9,135    695      1,231   
2003 656 273 478 965 63 309 10011,229 221 1,750 18 854 21 2,677 1,055  69 1,172 22 79 861
2004 627 260 487 395 93 94 9313,407 189 1,741 12 1,527 32 3,424 1,159  68 1,083 29 75 903
2005 23 250 463 149 78 173 10614,496 242 1,470 45 1,778 39 3,872 958 30  873 38 85 823
2006 34 130 513 112 107 294 8510,745 269 1,639 62 2,172 34 4,227 1,096 34 97 834 36 69 699
2007 14 134 486 100 97 249 87 8,753 273 1,626 69 3,033 58 4,851 783 21 135 1,003 65 66 753
2008 5  490 140 85 83 51 5,972 373 1,617 62 3,911 117 4,186 1,368 16 116 821 75 39 769
2009 26 32 469 228 58 83 71 5,085 397 1,413 156 4,596 121 799 1,238 19 122 725 88 54 682
2010 99  380 248 79  84 5,471 416 1,827 190 4,396 129 58 2,601 18 139 613 105 59 516
2011 1  350 311 68  122 4,373 326 1,599 354 3,455 114 36 239 11 157 632 46 100 218
2012   338 357 90  118 4,136 299 933 521 2,800 181 16 374 20 151 399 66 43 5
2013   240 413 65  109 3,406 199 575 599 2,025 189 27 552 18 112 387 57 79 28
2014 104 1 132 414 43  85 2,948 188 536 241 1,086 124 32 572 30 135 359 71 61 63
2015 40  143 426 38  68 3,059 180 522 384 684 85 13 287 20 163 345 56 42 34
2016 1  120 374 2   2,678 170 485 635 330 29 7 396 7 174 491 1 56 20
2017   117 302 3   2,211 156 552 54 485 21 4 399 7 235 580 4 51 17
2018   67 303 4   1,798 121 565 47 245 15 1 389 3 244 646 9 40 9
2019   64 273 6   1,065 154 607 32 22 11 5 252 3 241 545 1 44 10
2020 2  55 173 6   250 122 387 3 13 1 5 209 11 158 262  30 3
2021   12 108 6    48 297   10  54 5 17 245 6 20 
yearBelarusBoliviaBrazilBulgariaBurkina FasoCambodiaChileChina, PRChina, Republic ofColumbiaCongo, DREthiopiaGhanaGuatemalaHaitiHong KongHungaryIndiaIvory CoastJamaicaKazakhstan

Table 4, part 2: Intercountry adoption statistics by sending nations, 1988-2021

yearKenyaKorea, Republic ofLiberiaLithuaniaMadagascarMaliMexicoMoldovaMoroccoNepalNigeriaPeruPhilippinesPolandRomaniaRussiaSouth AfricaThailandUgandaUkraineUnited StatesVietnam
1988  6,463                    
1989  4,191                    
1990  2,962                    
1991  2,197                    
1992  2,045                    
1993  2,290                   47 
1994  2,262                   84 
1995  2,180                   94 
1996  2,080                   92 
1997  2,057                   88 
1998  2,443                   78 
1999  2,409                   102 
2000  2,360     106 79     173 83 1,119 4,269  88  659 78 724
2001  2,436 51    73      219 86 782 4,279  74  1,246 65 737
2002  2,365                   53 
2003 46 2,306 32 85 393 135 79  53 195 64 118 406 345 456 7,745 144 495 12 2,052 74 936
2004 48 2,258 87 99 335 82 145  66 269 94 117 414 406 287 9,425 242 515 18 2,021 126 491
2005 47 2,101 193 108 280 93 149  38 227 99 173 503 409 2 7,480 268 414 22 1,982 169 1,198
2006 26 1,899 369 125 137 126 139  55 452 104 189 460 395 0 6,783 263 360 15 1,053 178 1,370
2007 35 1,265 335 148 73 166 181 20 41 261 81 171 574 383 0 4,926 255 467 57 1,623 178 1,695
2008 54 1,366 256 121 15 108 105 33 59 413 223 153 590 407 0 4,174 272 400 49 1,578 287 1,739
2009 64 1,421 38 146 39 196 83 23 69 22 185 139 600 403 0 4,058 307 368 74 1,516 317 1,506
2010 71 1,154 52 115 56 132 117 13 94 170 267 175 515 325 0 3,426 220 306 82 1,098 205 1,260
2011 80 951 30 144 55 163 22 10 109 157 246 135 491 299 0 3,424 202 283 225 1,068 250 706
2012 83 818 34 98 52 145 21 3 102 3 266 111 411 249 0 2,677 170 282 249 722 232 214
2013 14 227 13 80 47 9 37  74 0 243 111 538 304 7 1,838 221 308 296 642 171 296
2014 10 506 16 14 4  12 6 43 4 183 97 458 303 16 1,058 219 273 211 610 172 407
2015 2 433 8 11 6 14 24 4 22 2 196 81 401 297 31 778 217 261 237 382 174 429
2016 1 376 10 7   17 2 21 5 161 100 363 328 19 486 147 289 208 399 175 405
2017 1 401 20 2   12 1 31 1 216 66 332 153 2 355 162 224 60 277 109 380
2018 1 321 30 4 1  26 2 18 1 213 58 248 53 6 284 131 249 29 328 159 307
2019  259 51 3   27 1 30 1 148 67 222 14 5 228 141 233 35 365 82 240
2020  266 29 3 1  11  17 3 118 32 39 7 4 45 59 114 26 277 89 108
2021  156 27 2 1  27 6 30  111 5 68 7 4  11 38 8 235 28 11
yearKenyaKorea, Republic ofLiberiaLithuaniaMadagascarMaliMexicoMoldovaMoroccoNepalNigeriaPeruPhilippinesPolandRomaniaRussiaSouth AfricaThailandUgandaUkraineUnited StatesVietnam

Sources:


© 2012-2017, 2022 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 12 November 2022.
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