How many abortions occur in the US?
In 2022, the CDC reported 613,383 abortions, equivalent to one abortion for every five live births in the United States.
In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a total of 613,383 abortions. This total, which includes data from 46 states, Washington, DC, and New York City, is a 2.0% decrease from 2021 and a 7.7% drop since 2012.
Abortions fell by 7.7% between 2013 and 2022.
Number of reported abortions performed by year, 2013–2022
There were an estimated 199 abortions for every 1,000 live births nationwide, or one reported abortion for every five live births in 2022.
What are abortion rates vs. abortion ratios?
What are abortion rates vs. abortion ratios?
Abortion rate: The abortion rate, as defined by the CDC, is the annual number of reported abortions per 1,000 women age 15 to 44. If the CDC reports an abortion rate of 15, it means 15 abortions took place for every 1,000 women aged 15-44 that year, providing a measure of how common abortions are among the female population of reproductive age.
Abortion ratio: The abortion ratio, also per the CDC, is the number of abortions per 1,000 live births each year, reflecting the proportion of non-miscarried pregnancies (that are aborted. An abortion ratio of 200 means that for every 1,000 live births, there were 200 abortions, giving insight into the frequency of abortions in comparison to live births.
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Where are abortions most common?
In 2022, more people in Florida had abortions than in any of the areas that reported abortion data, with 82,581. It was followed by New York (72,710) and Illinois (56,457).
New York City, which shares its own data separate from New York state, had 46,373 reported abortions that year. Washington, DC, the only other city included in the data, reported 4,023.
In 2022, Florida had the highest number of abortions out of any reporting state.
Number of reported abortions performed, 2022
Looking at the abortion ratio (i.e., number of abortions per 1,000 live births), New Mexico had the highest rate at 543, followed by Illinois at 440 and Florida at 368. Across the country, the national average was 199.
Missouri had the lowest — one — then South Dakota (12), Oklahoma (45), and Texas (45).
New York City and Washington, DC, both had abortion ratios of 498, more than twice the national average.
New Mexico's abortion ratio is nearly three times the national average.
Number of reported abortions performed per 1,000 live births, 2022
The CDC has also collected data on where out-of-area residents go to receive abortions, showing which states are most likely to receive people who must leave their home states.
Illinois had the most out-of-area abortion-seekers in 2021, 16,849 people. The highest overall percentage was in Kansas, where 68.8% of all reported abortions in Kansas, 8,475 cases, were performed on non-Kansans.
Out-of-state residents accounted for over two-thirds of all abortions in Kansas.
Percent of abortions obtained by out-of-area residents, 2022
At what ages are abortions most common?
In 2022, the most common age group having abortions were 20- to 24-year-old women at 28.5%. This is a shift from 2021, when the largest group was people aged 25 to 29, at 28.7%. Adolescents 15 and younger were the smallest cohort in 2022, at 0.2%; for the purposes of the visual below, they’re included in the 19-and-younger group.
Women ages 20 to 24 had the most abortions in 2022.
Percentage of reported abortions performed by age group and year, 2013–2022
Abortion rates, the number of abortions per1,000 women, have fallen for every age group since 2013 —apart from women ages 30–34, whose rate increased by 3.4%. The overall abortion rate decreased by 10% nationwide between 2013 and 2022.
However, abortion ratios have gone up for women ages 15 to 29, meaning that while fewer abortions are occurring overall a higher proportion of pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) are being aborted.
How do abortion rates vary by race and ethnicity?
Among the 32 areas (Washington, DC, and 31 states) reporting race and ethnicity data, non-Hispanic Black women had the biggest share of total reported abortions (39.5%) in 2022, followed by non-Hispanic white women (31.9%), Hispanic women (21.2%), and women of other races (7.3%).
Non-Hispanic white women had the lowest abortion rate (5.7 per 1,000 women) and abortion ratio (106 per 1,000 live births), while non-Hispanic Black women had the highest abortion rate (24.4 per 1,000) and ratio (429 per 1,000).
Black women had an abortion ratio 2.4 times higher than the next-highest reporting demographic.
Number of reported abortions performed by racial and ethnic group, per 1,000 live births to women in that same racial and ethnic group, 2022
Other demographic findings
The same 2022 data reveals that, unmarried women had 87.7% of that year’s reported abortions. They also had a abortion ratio of 376 abortions per 1,000 live births, compared to 37 per 1,000 for married women.
Of reported abortions in 2022, 59.5% were mothers, and 56.1% of patients were having their first abortion.
Where does this data come from?
Where does this data come from?
The CDC requests aggregate data from the central health agencies of all 50 states, Washington, DC, and New York City annually to document the number and characteristics of people obtaining legal abortions in the United States. The term “women” is used consistently for data collection, although not all individuals who obtain abortions identify as women.
The CDC requests data on specific variables such as age, gestational age, race, ethnicity, abortion method, marital status, number of previous births or abortions, and residence. These data are aggregated without individual identifying characteristics.
Reporting is voluntary, and not all areas provide complete data (e.g., some reporting areas don’t collect data on abortion rates by race/ethnicity or age group).
The report only includes data meeting CDC standards, and there are suppressions to maintain confidentiality. Data variability and quality differ by year and reporting area.
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Keep exploring
- How far into pregnancy do most abortions happen? - Nearly 93% of reported abortions happen before three and a half months of pregnancy.
- Which states provide abortions to out-of-state residents? - Kansas had the highest rate of abortions by non-residents at 68.8%. Less than 1% of abortions obtained by Missourians were conducted in Missouri.
- Are abortion pills banned in the US? - Mifepristone and other abortion pills are banned in 13 states, with few exceptions. They are legal in 37 states and Washington, DC.
- How much government money does Planned Parenthood receive? - Over 40% of Planned Parenthood revenue comes from government reimbursements and grants.
