Department of Health: Abortion statistics, England & Wales: 2009

The following National Statistics were released today by the Department of Health:

Abortion Statistics, England & Wales: 2009 Main findings:

In 2009, for women resident in England and Wales:

• the total number of abortions was 189,100, compared with 195,296 in 2008, a fall of 3.2
• the age-standardised abortion rate was 17.5 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44, compared with 18.2 in 2008
• the abortion rate was highest at 33 per 1,000, for women aged 19, 20 & 21, each lower than in 2008
• the under-16 abortion rate was 4.0 and the under-18 rate was 17.6 per 1,000 women, both lower than in 2008
• 94% of abortions were funded by the NHS; of these, over half (60%) took place in the independent sector under NHS contract
• 91% of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation; 75% were at under 10 weeks
• medical abortions accounted for 40% of the total
• 2,085 abortions (1%) were under ground E, risk that the child would be born handicapped

Non-residents:

• in 2009, there were 6,643 abortions for non-residents carried out in hospitals and clinics in England and Wales (6,862 in 2008)

To view this table, please follow the link below;

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/ImageLibrary/detail.aspx?MediaDetailsID=1919

See this link for detailed figures and see below for detailed notes.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_1160

Notes to editors

Background

Provisional quarterly data for Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2009 have been published in Health Statistics Quarterly; this is the first time full year figures for 2009 are being published by DH.

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