Baby girls aborted in record numbers in UK Indian communities, investigation finds

A record imbalance in the number of boys and girls born to Indian parents in the UK has raised renewed concern about sex-selective abortion, following analysis of official birth data.

Figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that between 2021 and 2025, around 118 boys were born to Indian mothers for every 100 girls—significantly higher than the national average of 105 boys per 100 girls.

Campaigners say ratios above the Government’s accepted upper limit of 107 boys per 100 girls strongly suggest sex-selective practices, including abortion and through IVF.

The figures were highlighted in an investigation by the Mail on Sunday, which reported that hundreds of pregnancies may have been terminated on the basis of sex during the four-year period, despite guidance stating this is illegal in the UK.

Experts examining the data note that the imbalance is most pronounced in third births.

While first and second children born to Indian mothers follow the national average, the ratio for third children rose to 114 boys per 100 girls in 2021/22. It then jumped to 118 boys per 100 girls in both 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Rani Bilkhu, founder of domestic abuse charity Jeena International, said the figures point to cultural and familial pressures.

She warned that women may be coerced into aborting female pregnancies by husbands or extended families, or may internalise beliefs that sons are more valuable because they carry the family name:

'Don't forget, some women are also led to abort girls because they have been brought up to believe boys are better than girls, that boys carry the family name, and girls don't. They feel they are worth more if they give birth to boys, she told the Mail.

She added: 'I feel boys in the Indian community have the "prince syndrome." They are better. This is actually not just an issue about abortion, it is about gender equality.'

Under guidance issued in 2014 by the Department of Health and Social Care, abortion on the grounds of a baby’s sex alone is illegal in England and Wales and constitutes a criminal offence.

Concerns have also been raised that the recent passing of an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, decriminalising abortion for women up to birth, could weaken protections against sex-selective abortion.

Conservative peer Baroness Eaton is seeking to amend the Bill to explicitly outlaw the practice.

Recently BPAS, one of Britain's largest abortion providers, faced criticism after they claimed the law does not explicitly outlaw sex-selective abortion.

Campaigners said the charity's statement was 'irresponsible' for normalising the practice.

The Government has stood by its 2014 guidance in response to the latest data, urging anyone with evidence of illegal practice to report it to police.