Historical abortion statistics, British Columbia (Canada)

Abortion statistics and other data--Johnston`s Archive

Historical abortion statistics, British Columbia (Canada)

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 31 May 2026

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

Live births
Abortions, reported includes official data from the national statistics office with some data from provincial agencies.
Abortions (AWR) are combined reported and estimated abortion occurrences from the Abortion Worldwide Report working papers.
Miscarriages may include stillbirths and/or spontaneous early miscarriages.
Abortion ratio is abortions per 1000 live births.
Abortion % is abortions as percentage of pregnancies (excluding fetal deaths/miscarriages).
Abortion rate is abortions per 1000 women ages 15-44.

year	live births	abortions, reported (official)		abortions, occurrences, estimated (AWR)	miscarriages	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate
year	live births	all in area	residents, in and out of area	abortions, occurrences, estimated (AWR)	miscarriages	all in area	residents, in/out of area	all in area	residents, in/out of area	all in area	residents, in/out of area
1950	27,116				369
1951	28,077				365
1952	29,827				375
1953	31,746				375
1954	32,946				373
1955	34,138				381
1956	36,241				413
1957	38,744				422
1958	39,577				414
1959	39,971				404
1960	40,116				437
1961	38,591				410
1962	38,128				377
1963	37,478				476
1964	35,897				485
1965	33,669				447
1966	32,502				409
1967	32,899				422
1968	33,687				433
1969	35,383				468
1970	36,861		2,901		407		78.7		7.30
1971	34,852		7,045		442		202.1		16.82		14.98
1972	34,563		8,179		356		236.6		19.14		16.66
1973	34,352		9,176		339		267.1		21.08		17.87
1974	35,450		10,024		3,843		282.8		22.04		18.60
1975	36,281		10,076		3,798		277.7		21.74		17.96
1976	35,848		10,704		3,633		298.6		22.99		18.56
1977	36,691		11,271		3,724		307.2		23.50		19.02
1978	37,231		12,483		3,802		335.3		25.11		20.44
1979	38,432		12,716		3,600		330.9		24.86		20.17
1980	40,104		12,673		3,635		316.0		24.01		19.32
1981	41,474		12,619		3,591		304.3		23.33		18.57
1982	42,747		12,566		3,268		294.0		22.72		18.15
1983	42,919		11,597		3,313		270.2		21.27		16.61
1984	43,911		11,449		3,169		260.7		20.68		16.19
1985	43,127		11,264		2,834		261.2		20.71		15.80
1986	41,967		11,386		2,956		271.3		21.34		15.84
1987	41,814	(8,540)	11,410		3,097	204.2	272.9	16.96	21.44	(11.8)	15.71
1988	42,930	11,180	10,951		2,934	260.4	255.1	20.66	20.32	15.12	14.81
1989	43,769	11,340	11,098		3,078	259.1	253.6	20.58	20.23	14.98	14.66
1990	45,617	11,860	12,471		3,117	260.0	273.4	20.63	21.47	15.22	16.01
1991	45,612	12,550			2,984	275.1		21.58		15.83
1992	46,156	14,190	14,733		2,707	307.4	319.2	23.51	24.20	17.55	18.22
1993	46,026	15,010	14,302		2,626	326.1	310.7	24.59	23.71	18.16	17.30
1994	46,998	15,180	13,914		2,638	323.0	296.1	24.41	22.84	17.93	16.43
1995	46,820	15,189	13,848		2,363	324.4	295.8	24.49	22.83	17.56	16.01
1996	46,138	16,007	15,689		2,108	346.9	340.0	25.76	25.38	17.99	17.63
1997	44,577	16,501	15,582		1,948	370.2	349.6	27.02	25.90	18.29	17.27
1998	43,072	15,459	15,482		1,721	358.9	359.4	26.41	26.44	17.14	17.16
1999	41,939	14,676	14,642		1,737	349.9	349.1	25.92	25.88	16.28	16.24
2000	40,670	14,070	14,009	14,070	1,525	346.0	344.5	25.70	25.62	15.65	15.58
2001	40,575	15,820	15,908	15,820	1,282	389.9	392.1	28.05	28.16	17.58	17.68
2002	40,069	16,076	15,967	16,076	1,304	401.2	398.5	28.63	28.49	17.97	17.85
2003	40,498	15,669	15,499	15,669	1,176	386.9	382.7	27.90	27.68	17.67	17.47
2004	40,511	14,738	14,145	14,738	1,207	363.8	349.2	26.68	25.88	16.69	16.02
2005	40,849	14,927	14,444	14,927	1,098	365.4	353.6	26.76	26.12	16.93	16.38
2006	41,753			(15,350)	334	367.6		26.88		17.40
2007	43,653	15,770	5,981	15,770	355	361.3	137.0	26.54	12.05	17.83	6.76
2008	44,270	12,914	5,692	(15,420)	431	348.3	128.6	25.83	11.39	17.34	6.40
2009	44,991	12,461	5,091	(15,060)	435	334.7	113.2	25.08	10.17	16.82	5.69
2010	43,805	12,149	4,744	(14,700)	228	335.6	108.3	25.13	9.77	16.29	5.26
2011	44,121	14,341	4,261	14,341	217	325.0	96.6	24.53	8.81	15.86	4.71
2012	44,052	7,128	4,139	(13,740)	410	311.9	94.0	23.77	8.59	15.05	4.53
2013	43,786	9,574	4,233	(13,140)	469	300.1	96.7	23.08	8.82	14.32	4.61
2014	44,380	9,196	4,101	(12,547)	507	282.7	92.4	22.04	8.46	13.55	4.43
2015	44,300	13,166	3,995	13,166	489	297.2	90.2	22.91	8.27	14.24	4.32
2016	45,269	13,116	3,850	13,116	545	289.7	85.0	22.46	7.84	13.98	4.10
2017	44,648	13,182	3,752	13,182	524	295.2	84.0	22.79	7.75	13.79	3.93
2018	43,594	12,206	3,257	12,206	479	280.0	74.7	21.87	6.95	12.46	3.33
2019	43,490	11,939	3,141	11,939	528	274.5	72.2	21.54	6.74	11.89	3.13
2020	42,254	13,125	2,837	13,125	564	310.6	67.1	23.70	6.29	12.88	2.79
2021	44,034	12,395		12,395	503	281.5		21.97		12.07
2022	41,845	13,438		13,438	561	321.1		24.31		12.54
2023	41,403	13,902		13,902	633	335.8		25.14		12.29
2024	43,972	13,068		13,068		297.2		22.91		11.02
2025	45,053			(13,300)
year	live births	abortions, reported (official)		abortions, occurrences, estimated (AWR)	miscarriages	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate
year	live births	all in area	residents, in and out of area	abortions, occurrences, estimated (AWR)	miscarriages	all in area	residents, in/out of area	all in area	residents, in/out of area	all in area	residents, in/out of area

Notes:

Official data may be incomplete.
Parenthetical figures are estimates, some of which are derived from reported data.
Some miscarriage data includes only stillbirths, some data includes known early miscarriages, thus this series is not a consistent time series.
Abortion rates may be based on a mix of national or provincial agency data and thus may not represent a consistent time series.

Sources:

British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency, 2006, "Table 1, Live births, deaths, marriages, and stillbirths, British Columbia, 1950-2004," British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency, on line [http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/stats/annual/2004/xl/tab01.xls].
British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency, 2007, "Selected Vital Statistics and Health Status Indicators: One Hundred and Thirty-Fifth Annual Report 2006," British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency, on line [http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/stats/annual/2006/pdf/ann06.pdf].
Canadian Institute for Health Information, 14 Dec. 2010, "2007," CIHI, on line [http://www.cihi.ca/CIHI-ext-portal/pdf/internet/TA_07_ALLDATATABLES20101124_EN].
Canadian Institute for Health Information, 14 Dec. 2010, "2008," CIHI, on line [http://www.cihi.ca/CIHI-ext-portal/pdf/internet/TA_08_ALLDATATABLES20101124_EN].
Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2011, "Induced Abortions Reported in Canada in 2007," CIHI, on line [http://www.cihi.ca/CIHI-ext-portal/pdf/internet/TA_07_ALLDATATABLES20101124_EN].
Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2011, "Induced Abortions Reported in Canada in 2008," CIHI, on line [http://www.cihi.ca/CIHI-ext-portal/pdf/internet/TA_08_ALLDATATABLES20101124_EN].
Canadian Institute for Health Information, 28 Oct. 2011, "Induced Abortions Performed in Canada in 2009," CIHI, on line [http://www.cihi.ca/CIHI-ext-portal/pdf/internet/TA_09_ALLDATATABLES20111028_EN].
Hall, Cathy, July 1997, "Pregnancy outcomes in British Columbia," Quarterly Digest, 7(1), on line at British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency [http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/stats/quarter/q1_97/index.html#pregnancy].
Statistics Canada, 11 May 2007, "Table 102-4502, Live births, by month, Canada, provinces and territories, annual," Statistics Canada, on line [http://cansim2.statcan.ca/cgi-win/cnsmcgi.exe?Lang=E&RootDir=CII/&ResultTemplate=CII/CII___&Array_Pick=1&ArrayId=1024502].
Statistics Canada, 12 Dec. 2003, "Table 106-9003--Induced abortions, by area of residence of patient, Canada, provinces and territories, annual," Statistics Canada, on line [http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/82-223-XIE/tables.htm].
Statistics Canada, 2005, "Table 11, Pregnancy outcomes, by age group and place of residence of woman, number and rate, British Columbia," Statistics Canada, on line [http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/82-224-XIE/2002000/tables/t011_en.htm].
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© 2000-2025, 2026 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 31 May 2026.
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