A record proportion of pregnancies in England and Wales are now ending in abortion, with 32.1 percent of conceptions terminated in 2023. This figure represents an increase from 29.7 percent in the previous year and marks the highest proportion recorded. The current rate is a significant rise from 20.8 percent in 2010.
The surge in abortions nearly accounted for the entire year-on-year increase in conceptions, which rose from 834,260 in 2022 to 871,050 in 2023. This resulted in only a marginal change in the number of maternities, or pregnancies leading to births.
This shift has occurred despite a continued decline in teenage pregnancies, a demographic that historically has had the highest rate of abortions. The specific drivers behind the current increase are not definitively stated, but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has suggested potential factors. One possibility is public concern over the safety of the contraceptive pill, which may have led some individuals to rely on less effective methods of contraception.
Economic pressures, particularly concerns about housing costs affecting younger couples, have also been cited as a contributing factor, especially in areas like London where property prices are highest and conception rates have fallen over the past decade. The rise in abortion rates appears to have gained momentum around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent war in Ukraine, both of which exacerbated cost of living challenges.
Conception and Abortion Trends by Age
The ONS data indicates that women aged 30 to 34 years had the highest number of conceptions in 2023, with 260,810, and the highest conception rate at 118.9 per thousand women for the seventh consecutive year. This age group also had the lowest percentage of conceptions resulting in abortion, at 22.4 percent. The ONS does not collect data on miscarriages within this specific data series.
Concurrently, women over 40 years old experienced a record conception rate of 17.6 per 1,000 women in 2023, exceeding the previous high of 17.3 per 1,000 in 2021. However, the proportion of conceptions ending in abortion for this age bracket has risen from 28.3 percent in 2013 to 38 percent in 2023.
Teenage conception rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, with 28 conceptions per 1,000 women under 20, totaling a record low of 19,820. Of these teenage conceptions, over half led to an abortion.
Regional and Marital Status Variations
Geographically, the West Midlands reported the highest conception rate at 80.9 per 1,000 women, while the South West had the lowest at 64.8 per 1,000.
In terms of marital status, 12 percent of conceptions within a marriage or civil partnership ended in abortion in 2022. In contrast, 37.9 percent of conceptions among those not married ended in abortion. Only 2.3 percent of those who conceived outside of marriage subsequently married before the birth of the child.
Previous data released in January by the Department of Health reported a record 277,970 abortions in England and Wales in 2023. The ONS bases its figures on the estimated date of conception, whereas government data uses the date of the abortion procedure. Health organizations and charities responding to the January figures attributed the high number of abortions to economic pressures, the rising cost of living, and insufficient access to sexual health services.
In 2022, temporary measures introduced during the pandemic, which allowed for the use of both abortion pills at home without prior hospital or clinic visits, were made permanent in England and Wales.