Abortion statistics in England and Wales
Data sets and publications relating to abortion statistics for England and Wales.
In England and Wales, within the terms of the Abortion Act 1967, only a registered practitioner can terminate a pregnancy. Practitioners carrying out an abortion must complete an abortion notification form (HSA4) and submit it to the Chief Medical Officer.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has a responsibility to monitor the Abortion Act and produce abortion statistics. It has processes in place to check the abortion notification forms and to publish the subsequent data.
Using abortion statistics
With approval from the Chief Medical Officer, the abortion statistics are used for research.
DHSC publishes:
- information on who uses abortion statistics and how they use them
- a guide for academic researchers who want to use abortion statistics: protocol for the release of personal data
- information on the codes used in processing information from the HSA4 forms
Abortion statistics before 2011
Abortion statistics on this site start at 2011. Statistics for previous years are available on the National Archives website.
Tell us what you think
We would welcome views on ‘Abortion statistics for England and Wales’. Fill in our feedback form or email us at abortion.statistics@dhsc.gov.uk.
Feedback received will contribute to future development of these statistics.
Contact the abortion statistics team
Documents
Updates to this page
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Removed 'Abortion notification forms for England and Wales' from the collection and added it to the new collection page 'Guidance documents for abortions in England and Wales'.
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Updated link on the second bullet point 'a guide for academic researchers who want to use abortion statistics' and added the new page (Abortion statistics: protocol for the release of personal data) to the collection. The previous protocol has been superseded by a new accessible form and guidance.
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Added 'Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2022'.
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Added the confirmed publication date of 23 May 2024 for 'Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2022'.
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Amended the provisional publication date for 'Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2022' to May 2024.
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Updated to add 'Complications from abortions in England, 2017 to 2021' and to extend the delay in publication of 'Abortion Statistics for England and Wales: 2022' to April 2024.
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Added 'Abortion statistics: England and Wales, January to June 2022'.
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Added announcement on delay of 'Abortion Statistics for England and Wales: 2022'. Added feedback form for views on abortion statistics for England and Wales.
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Added abortion statistics for 2021 to collection.
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Added abortion statistics for 2020 to collection.
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Added abortion statistics for 2018 to collection and updated email address for the abortion statistics team to abortion.statistics@dhsc.gov.uk.
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Added 'Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2017' to collection.
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Added 2016 abortion statistics.
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First published.