300,000 abortions per year in the UK

In 2024, there were 300,000 abortions in the UK, an 11% increase since 2022, when we last had a full set of accredited official statistics. This is my latest projection based upon recently published data. To be certain this increase is not solely a factor of increasing population, it is important that we also consider two other measures. First the abortion rate, measured as the number of abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age (WRA) (15-44); I am projecting this to be 22.0, up by 6% from 20.7 in 2022. Secondly the ratio of abortions to live births; in 2022 this was published as 40.2 abortions per 100 live births, I am projecting a 16% increase to 46.6 in 2024.

So, across all four nations, across all abortion providers, and by all three core measures, abortion continues to increase, and in this year, one-in-three of all viable pregnancies will be ended by elective abortion.[i]

On 27 May 2025, Public Health Scotland (PHS) published abortion statistics for the year ending December 2024. PHS reports that in 2024 there were 18,703 abortions for Scottish residents, an 11% increase from 16,786 in 2022. The abortion rate in Scotland is now 17.9 abortions per 1,000 WRA.[ii]

On 30 January 2025, the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA) published abortions statistics for NI residents over the period April 2023 to March 2024.[iii] It reports 2,792 abortions, a 46% increase from 1,918 reported in the twelve months ending March 2022. The rate in NI is 7.7 abortions per 1,000 WRA; whilst this is much lower than in other parts of the UK, we should note that it is three times the rate that was reported in the years before abortion decriminalisation.[iv]

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID), last published accredited official statistics for England and Wales in May 2024 for the YE December 2022. In past years, OHID published annual statistics in the June following the end of the reporting period, so e.g., the 2021 statistics were published on 21 June 2022. The 2022 report was 11 months later than expected and since we are still awaiting the 2023 report, that is now 14 months later than the prior years’ schedule. To date, the OHID has not made any public announcement about when it intends to publish the statistics for 2023, nor those for 2024, which in past years would have been published by now.

In 2022, the OHID reported 251,377 abortions for residents in England and Wales, a 17% increase over the 214,256 reported for the year ending December 2021. In 2022, the abortion rate for E&W was 21.1 abortions per 1,000 WRA.[v] It is important to note that about 80% of all abortions in E&W are provided by the independent sector and so we can gain an insight into abortion numbers for 2023 and 2024 by reviewing published reports from the three largest independent providers.

In July 2025, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) published its Annual Quality Account for the year ending January 2025. In this, it reports having provided 110,078 abortions, a 3% increase over the prior year but just about the same as it reported for the year 2022.[vi] This flat-lining in its service provision is, no doubt, a consequence of the CQC investigations and subsequent removal of most of the senior leadership team at BPAS in recent years.[vii] [viii]

In June 2025, MSI Reproductive Choices (MSI-RC) published its Quality Account for the year April 2024 to March 2025. It reports 104,917 abortions in that year, a 40% increase from the 74,725 reported for the YE March 2023.[ix]

In November 2024, the National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service (NUPAS) published its Annual Quality Account 2024/25, in which it reports 30,934 abortions for the year ending March 2024. This is a 19% increase over the 26,000 reported for the twelve months ending March 2023.[x]

Up to 2022, we can report annual abortions across the UK by combining the published official statistics for 2022 from OHID, PHS, and NISRA; in that annual period the total was 270,500.

We have published data for 2023 from PHS and NISRA. We also have published data from each of the three large independent providers that comprise some 80% of the missing 2023 data for E&W (missing only because the OHID has yet to publish its annual report). Using just these data and without making any assumptions about an increase in NHS provision in E&W, I am projecting 290,00 abortions across the UK in 2023.

Using only the ongoing increase in abortion provision reported by PHS, BPAS, and MSI-RC, I consider a conservative estimate for 2024 to be at least 300,000 abortions across the UK; the recently published data have not changed my estimate from when I first made it in February of this year.[xi]

---

[i] I discuss the concept of ‘viable pregnancies’ in this earlier post: Duffy, K. (2025, March 12). Live births and abortions – 55 years of data. Percuity. https://percuity.blog/2025/03/12/live-births-and-abortions-55-years-of-data/

[ii] Public Health Scotland. (n.d.). Termination of pregnancy statistics – Year ending December 2024 – Termination of pregnancy statistics – Publications – Public Health Scotland. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics/termination-of-pregnancy-statistics-year-ending-december-2024/

[iii] I have taken note that these official and provider reports cover differing periods, some are calendar years (January to December), others are for fiscal years, often April to March. I have taken a consistent approach and allocate e.g., this NISRA report for the period 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 into my reporting year 2023. This is not unlike the consistent use by ONS et al of mid-year population estimates when calculating abortion rates for full calendar years.

[iv] Northern Ireland Abortion Statistics, 2023/24. (n.d.). https://datavis.nisra.gov.uk/health/ni-abortion-stats-2023-24.html

[v] Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2022. (2025, April 9). GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2022

[vi] BPAS. (n.d.). Annual Quality Account 2024/25. https://www.bpas.org/about-bpas/governance/annual-quality-account-202425/

[vii] Duffy, K. (2024, January 11). BPAS is not well-led, reports CQC. Percuity. https://percuity.blog/2024/01/10/bpas-is-not-well-led-reports-cqc/

[viii] Duffy, K. (2024, July 11). BPAS Annual Report March 2023. Percuity. https://percuity.blog/2024/01/25/bpas-annual-report/

[ix] MSI Reproductive Choices UK. (2025, June 30). Governance | MSI Reproductive Choices UK. https://www.msichoices.org.uk/who-we-are/governance/

[x] File https://www.nupas.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/NUPAS-Annual-Quality-Account-2024-2025.pdf accessed from: NUPAS. (2025, July 14). Abortion Clinics | Termination of Pregnancy Advice, Counselling & Treatment | NUPAS. https://www.nupas.co.uk/

[xi] Duffy, K. (2025, February 17). 300,000 abortions in the UK in 2024. Percuity. https://percuity.blog/2025/02/17/300000-abortions-in-the-uk-in-2024/