Abortion statistics for England and Wales: January to June 2022
Updated 24 August 2023
Applies to England and Wales
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Background
This report provides statistics on abortions recorded in England and Wales from January to June 2022. The data in this report should be treated as provisional and revised finalised figures will be published in the annual abortion publication (see the Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2022 announcement.
The information presented is based on abortion notification forms (HSA4) submitted by clinics and hospitals to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) together with forms submitted to the Welsh CMO. DHSC monitors the forms to ensure that there is full compliance with the legislation set out in the Abortion Act 1967.
Further information
Further details on the legislative context of the Abortion Act, in addition to methodological and technical information on the data can be found in the ‘Guide to abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021’ in Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2021.
Previous publications
DHSC has published abortion statistics annually since 2002. Statistics for years from 1974 to 2001 were published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in their Abortion Statistics Series AB, Nos 1 to 28. The reports for 1991 to 2001 are available electronically on request to abortion.statistics@dhsc.gov.uk. Statistics for years from 1968 to 1973 were published in the Registrar General’s Statistical Review of England and Wales, Supplement on Abortion.
The most recent versions of the publication are available on GOV.UK.
Contact us at abortion.statistics@dhsc.gov.uk.
Abortion statistics are usually published annually. Currently, the next planned date of publication will be in 2024 and will cover January to December 2022.
Commentary
Unless specified, the following commentary, charts and tables are provisional and relate only to abortions in England and Wales between January to June 2022, for residents of England and Wales.
Overall number
Between January and June 2022, there were 123,219 abortions performed on residents of England and Wales. This compares with 105,488 over the same period in 2021.
Figure 1: number of abortions performed by month, resident of England and Wales, January to June 2021 and 2022
All abortions, by gestation
The total number of abortions for residents of England and Wales in January to June 2022 was 123,219. This was an increase of 17% from the same period in 2021. The majority of abortions took place in the early stages of pregnancy: 67% up to and including 7 weeks gestation; 93% up to and including 12 weeks, and 98% up to and including 17 weeks gestation.
Figure 2: proportion of abortions by gestation week, England and Wales, January to June 2022
All abortions by ethnicity
For residents of England and Wales ethnicity was recorded on 90% of the forms received for January to June 2022. Of all ethnicities recorded in the abortion statistics publication, 78% of abortions were reported as relating to women of white ethnicity, 9% as Asian or Asian British and 7% as black or black British, 5% as mixed and 1% as Chinese or other ethnic group (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: legal abortions by ethnicity, England and Wales, January to June 2022
Statutory grounds for abortion
Under the Abortion Act 1967, a pregnancy may be lawfully terminated by a registered medical practitioner in approved premises, if 2 medical practitioners are of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the abortion is justified under one or more of grounds A to G. (Table A). For more information about the grounds for abortion, see the Glossary and the ‘Guide to abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021’ in Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2021.
Table A: grounds for abortion
| Ground | Definition | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground A | That the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy were terminated. | |||
| Ground B | That the termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. | |||
| Ground C | That the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. | |||
| Ground D | That the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of any existing child(ren) of the family of the pregnant woman. | |||
| Ground E | That there is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped. | |||
| Ground F | To save the life of the pregnant woman. | |||
| Ground G | To prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. |
The proportion of abortions performed under different grounds has remained similar to previous years. In January to June 2022, 98.6% of abortions (121,433) were performed under ground C. A further 1.2% were carried out under ground E (1,428 abortions), with 0.2% (295 abortions) under ground D. The remaining grounds account for very few abortions; 63 in total across grounds A, B, F and G (Table 3 in ‘Abortion statistics January to June 2022: data tables’).
The vast majority (99.9%) of abortions carried out under ground C alone were reported as being performed because of a risk to the woman’s mental health. These were classified as F99 (mental disorder, not otherwise specified) under the International Classification of Disease version 10 (ICD-10).
Method of abortion
Different methods can be used to terminate a pregnancy, depending on the gestation, and other circumstances relating to the individual woman. There are medical methods which involve the use of drugs (for example, mifepristone) and there are surgical methods, such as vacuum aspiration or dilatation and evacuation. (See the Glossary below and ‘Guide to abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021’ in Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2021.)
From January to June 2022, medical abortions accounted for 86% of abortions. This compares with 87% of abortions over the same period in 2021, and 87% of abortions over the full 2021 calendar year. The majority (97%) of medical abortions in the first 6 months of 2022 were performed at under 10 weeks, similar to the proportion in the first 6 months of 2021 (97%).
There has been a continuing upward trend in medical abortions since 1991, when mifepristone was first licensed for use in the UK. There was an additional effect during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic when the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care approved temporary measures in England to limit the transmission of COVID-19 by approving the use of both pills for early medical abortion at home, without the need to first attend a hospital or clinic. This measure was made permanent on 30 August 2022 (see press release for ‘At home early medical abortions made permanent in England and Wales’) and has accounted for over 50% of terminations each quarter since April to June 2021.
Figure 4: percentage of abortions performed by method, residents of England and Wales, quarterly, 2021 and January to June 2022
Complications
Data on complications should be treated with caution. It is not possible to fully verify complications recorded on HSA4 forms and complications that occur after discharge may not always be recorded. This means that for medical terminations where either both or the second stage was administered at home, complications may be less likely to be recorded on the HSA4. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is currently undertaking a project to review the system of recording abortion complications.
Complications were reported in 161 out of 123,219 cases in January to June 2022. Due to how complications are recorded, for terminations where either both or the second stage is administered at home, complications may be less likely to be recorded. See the ‘Guide to abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021’ in Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2021 for more information on reporting abortion complications. (See also Table 8 in ‘Abortion statistics January to June 2022: data tables’).
Women resident outside England and Wales
This section covers abortions carried out in England and Wales for women who are residents of other countries.
In January to June 2022, there were 346 abortions to women recorded as residing outside England and Wales. Most non-residents came from Northern Ireland (28%) and Irish Republic (25%).
Glossary
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
The CMO is the most senior government adviser on health matters in the UK. The CMO advises government on public health issues. This extends to recommending policy changes affecting the law governing abortion and advising doctors who perform abortions, regarding the interpretation of that law. There are 4 in total, each one advising either His Majesty’s Government (CMO for England and medical adviser to the UK government), the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government or the Welsh Government.
Grounds
The grounds for abortion are specified in Table A above and in the Abortion Act 1967.
Feticide
An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. Feticide is the destruction of a fetus in the uterus.
Medical abortion
Two medicines are taken, the first is mifepristone and is taken at the clinic. The second is misoprostol, which may be taken at the same time or within 3 days of the first medicine. It may be taken either at the clinic or at home under amendments to the Abortion Act. From 30 March 2020 for England and 31 March 2020 for Wales, temporary measures were put in place to limit the transmission of COVID-19 by approving the use of both pills for early medical abortion at home, without the need to first attend a hospital or clinic. These were made permanent in Wales from 24 February 2022. On 30 March 2022, Parliament voted in favour of an amendment to the Health and Care Bill, making the temporary approval allowing home use of both pills for early medical abortions permanent in England and Wales.
Surgical abortion
The pregnancy is removed in an operation by a doctor. There are 2 types. Vacuum aspiration is used between 3 and 12 weeks, where the fetus is removed by suction. Dilatation and evacuation is used between 13 and 24 weeks, where the fetus is removed using forceps.