(DH) Abortion statistics, England & Wales: 2008

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

Abortion Statistics, England & Wales: 2008 Main findings:
In 2008, for women resident in England and Wales:

* the total number of abortions was 195,296, compared with 198,499 in 2007, a fall of 1.6%

* the age-standardised abortion rate was 18.2 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44, compared with 18.6 in 2007

* the abortion rate was highest at 36 per 1,000, for women age 19, the same as in 2007

* the under-16 abortion rate was 4.2 and the under-18 rate was 18.9 per 1,000 women, both lower than in 2007

* 91% of abortions were funded by the NHS; of these, just over half (58%) took place in the independent sector under NHS contract

* 90% of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation; 73% were at under 10 weeks

* medical abortions accounted for 38% of the total

* 1,988 abortions (1%) were under ground E, risk that the child would be born handicapped

Non-residents:

* in 2008, there were 6,862 abortions for non-residents carried out in hospitals and clinics in England and Wales (7,099 in 2007)

                     2007               2008
All abortions        198,499 (100%)     195,296 (100%)
3-9 weeks            139,144 (70.1%)    142,645 (73.0%)
10-12 weeks          38,998 (19.6%)     33,661 (17.2%)
13-19 weeks          17,430 (8.8%)      16,101 (8.2%)
20-21 weeks          1,726 (0.9%)       1,615 (0.8%)
22-23 weeks          1,066 (0.5%)       1,150 (0.6%)
24 weeks and over    135 (0.1%)         124 (0.1%)

See this link for detailed figures.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_099285