One in three pregnancies end in abortion in England and Wales

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that nearly one in three conceptions in England and Wales now result in an abortion.

The ONS have made public the statistics for conceptions in England and Wales for 2023. The total number of conceptions during that year was 871,050. The number of conceptions that ended in abortion has reached its highest ever recorded rate at 32.1% in 2023. This is an increase from 2022 which saw 29.1% of pregnancies result in abortions.

The percentage of abortions has steadily increased year by year since 2015 and has seen a particular increase since the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase has been seen across all age groups. The greatest proportion of abortions occurs in those under 20, where nearly 60% of conceptions result in an abortion.

In 2023, almost 280,000 pregnancies ended in an abortion in England and Wales, a 13% increase on the figures for 2022. Since 2019, before the pandemic, abortions have increased by 35.2%. In comparison the number of conceptions leading to maternities has steadily decreased by an average of 1.2% each year since 2012.

The rise in abortions since the pandemic has been linked to the availability of at-home abortions with the ‘pills by post’ scheme. This allows women to receive medication to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks after a phone or online consultation with a medical professional.

In March the House of Lords voted to decriminalise abortion up to birth for women who self-administer their abortion, along with rejecting an amendment to reintroduce in-person consultations before abortion medications are issued. This came after the subject in the Crime and Policing Bill had only 46 minutes of debate before being passed in the House of Commons. The Bill became law after receiving Royal Assent in April.