Historical abortion statistics, Republic of China/Taiwan

Abortion statistics and other data--Johnston`s Archive

Historical abortion statistics, Republic of China/Taiwan

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 6 June 2026

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 of childbearing age.
Abortion rate, occurrences (AWR) is abortion occurrences from Abortion Worldwide Report figures per 1000 women ages 15-39.

year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	fetal deaths	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	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)
1951	385,383
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957	394,870
1958	410,885
1959	421,458
1960	419,442
1961	420,254
1962	423,469
1963	424,250
1964	416,926
1965	406,604
1966	415,108
1967	374,282	(400)	(400)	(400)		(400)		1.1	1.1	0.11	0.11
1968	394,260	2,211	2,211	(2,211)		2,211		5.6	5.6	0.56	0.56
1969	390,728
1970	394,015
1971	380,424
1972	365,749
1973	366,942
1974	367,823
1975	367,647
1976	423,356
1977	395,796
1978	409,203
1979	422,518
1980	413,881
1981	414,069
1982	405,263
1983	383,439
1984	371,008	1,268	1,268
1985	346,208		(7,400)
1986	309,230	(1,300)	(13,600)	(1,300)		(1,300)		4.2	4.2	0.42	0.42
1987	314,024	(2,500)	(19,800)	(2,500)		(2,500)		8.0	8.0	0.79	0.79
1988	342,031	(2,400)	(26,000)	(2,400)		(2,400)		7.0	7.0	0.70	0.70
1989	315,299	32,159	32,159	32,159		32,159		102.0	102.0	9.26	9.26
1990	335,618	18,475	(77,000)	18,475		18,475		55.0	55.0	5.22	5.22		(17.1)
1991	321,932	16,259	(121,000)	16,259		16,259		50.5	50.5	4.81	4.81		(26.7)
1992	321,632	10,606	(166,000)	10,606		10,606		33.0	33.0	3.19	3.19		(36.4)
1993	325,613	210,437	210,437	210,437		210,437		646.3	646.3	39.26	39.26		45.97
1994	322,938	5,062	(198,000)	5,062		5,062		15.7	15.7	1.54	1.54		(43.0)
1995	329,581	(185,000)	(185,000)	(185,000)		(185,000)		561.3	561.3	35.95	35.95		40.00
1996	325,545	(185,000)	(185,000)	(185,000)		(185,000)		568.3	568.3	36.24	36.24		39.97
1997	326,002	(185,000)	(185,000)	(185,000)		(185,000)		567.5	567.5	36.20	36.20		39.88
1998	271,450	(185,000)	(185,000)	(185,000)		(185,000)		681.5	681.5	40.53	40.53		39.74
1999	283,661	42,282	(170,000)	42,282		42,282		149.1	149.1	12.97	12.97		(36.5)
2000	305,312		(154,000)										(33.1)
2001	260,354		(139,000)										(30.1)
2002	247,530	(31,869)	(123,000)										(26.9)
2003	227,070	(43,421)	(108,000)										(23.8)
2004	216,419	(92,222)	(92,222)	(92,222)		(92,222)		426.1	426.1	29.88	29.88		20.48
2005	205,854	(92,266)	(92,266)	(92,266)		(92,266)		448.2	448.2	30.95	30.95		20.66
2006	204,459	(90,638)	(90,638)	(90,638)		(90,638)		443.3	443.3	30.71	30.71		20.40
2007	204,414	(89,519)	(89,519)	(89,519)		(89,519)		437.9	437.9	30.46	30.46		20.24
2008	198,733	(91,358)	(91,358)	(91,358)		(91,358)		459.7	459.7	31.49	31.49		20.73
2009	191,310	(87,569)	(87,569)	(87,569)		(87,569)		457.7	457.7	31.40	31.40		19.93
2010	166,886	(87,899)	(87,899)	(87,899)		(87,899)		526.7	526.7	34.50	34.50		20.06
2011	196,627	(89,520)	(89,520)	(89,520)		(89,520)		455.3	455.3	31.28	31.28		20.51
2012	229,481	(87,256)	(87,256)	(87,256)		(87,256)		380.2	380.2	27.55	27.55		20.06
2013	199,113	(83,036)	(83,036)	(83,036)		(83,036)		417.0	417.0	29.43	29.43		19.20
2014	210,383	(82,316)	(82,316)	(82,316)		(82,316)		391.3	391.3	28.12	28.12		19.19
2015	216,225	(78,732)	(78,732)	(78,732)		(78,732)		364.1	364.1	26.69	26.69		18.48
2016	208,440	(73,988)	(73,988)	(73,988)		(73,988)		355.0	355.0	26.20	26.20		17.58
2017	193,844	(71,220)	(71,220)	(71,220)		(71,220)		367.4	367.4	26.87	26.87		17.22
2018	181,601	(68,857)	(68,857)	(68,857)		(68,857)		379.2	379.2	27.49	27.49		16.97
2019	177,767		(104,200)										(26.2)
2020	165,249		(101,300)										(26.1)
2021	153,820		(98,500)										(26.0)
2022	138,986		(95,700)										(26.0)
2023	135,571		(93,000)										(25.9)
2024			(90,500)										(25.8)
2025			(88,000)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	fetal deaths	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	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 (incomplete):

Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Oct. 2006, "Table 18. Live births by age of mother," in Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China 2005, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (Taipei, ROC), on line at Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan) [http://eng.dgbas.gov.tw/public/data/dgbas03/bs2/yearbook_eng/y018I.pdf].
Potts, Malcolm, Peter Diggory, and John Peel, 1977, Abortion, Cambridge Univ. Press (Cambridge, UK).
Sullivan, J. M., K. H. Su, and T. H. Liu, 1976, "The influence of induced abortion on Taiwanese fertility," Studies in Family Planning, 7(8):231-238.
Taipei Times, 23 Dec. 2000, "Officials say abortion estimates low," Taipei Times [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/local/archives/2000/12/23/66622].
Ministry of Health and Welfare, 11 July 2016, �Supporting �World Population Day,� �Investing in Teenage Girl�s Future,� MOHW, on line [http://www.mohw.gov.tw/EN/Ministry/DM2_P.aspx?f_list_no=378&fod_list_no=5760&doc_no=55626].
Ministry of Health and Welfare, Dec. 2015, �Statistics of General Health and Welfare 2014,� MOHW, on line [http://www.mohw.gov.tw/EN/Ministry/DisplayStatisticFile.aspx?d=53362&s=1].
Department of Health, 15 Sept. 1985, �Characteristics of women undergoing abortion�Taiwan,� Taiwan Epidemiology Bulletin, 1(10):73-75
Asia Sentinel, 25 Jul 2011, �Taiwan�s astonishing abortion rate,� Asia Sentinel, on line [http://www.asiasentinel.com/society/taiwans-astonishing-abortion-rate/].
Focus Taiwan, 16 Jan. 2015, �Taiwan records jump in number of births in 2014,� Focus Taiwan, on line [http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201501160015.aspx].

© 2000-2025, 2026 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 6 June 2026.
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