Worldwide Abortion Statistics

Worldwide Abortion Statistics

Q: How many abortions are performed worldwide each year?

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, approximately 22 million legal abortions were reported in 1987.
It is estimated that between four and nine million were not reported, for a possible total of 26-31 million legal abortions.
Add to that an estimated 10 to 22 million "clandestine" abortions, and the total worldwide figure is between 36 and 53 million abortions.
China reports the highest number of abortions, with 10,394,500 abortions reported in 1987.
Women in the former Soviet Union have a high rate of abortion, 181 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 1987, or roughly 60 percent of all pregnancies ending in abortion.
The average Russian woman has three to eight abortions in her lifetime. The rate of abortion in Russia is four times higher than that of the U.S.
Since the fall of Communism in Romania, 78 percent of all pregnancies are aborted.
There is a worldwide trend toward liberalizing abortion laws.

Sources:

International Family Planning Perspectives, 16:59, June 1990; USA Today, 8/8/96.