The Top 5 Countries with the Lowest Abortion Rates (all countries)

  Country Abortion Rate
1 Zambia 0.4 per 1,000 women
2 India 2.7 per 1,000 women
3 South Africa 2.7 per 1,000 women
4 Bangladesh 3.8 per 1,000 women
5 Spain 5.7 per 1,000 women
Share on Social Media:
 Special Report
  1. An estimated 46 million women around the world have abortions each year-26 million in countries with liberal abortion laws and 20 million where abortion is restricted or prohibited by law.
  2. Worldwide, an average of 35 of every 1,000 women of childbearing age have an abortion each year, but this rate ranges from about 10 in some countries to around 80 in others. Almost half of all abortions around the world are still unsafe, and more than 97% of these unsafe abortions occur in developing countries.
  3. Despite variations in the legal status of abortion in developed and developing regions, overall rates are quite similar for both-39 and 34 abortions per 1,000 women, respectively. Eastern Europe has the highest abortion rate of any region, and Western Europe has the lowest; the disparity exists despite little difference in the legal status of abortion throughout Europe, and may be attributable to differences in availability and use of effective contraceptives.
  4. Worldwide, about 11% of all women having abortions live in Africa, 58% in Asia and 9% in Latin America and the Caribbean. The remainder live in Europe (17%) and elsewhere in the developed world- Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States (5%).
  5. Given the current worldwide abortion rate of 35 abortions annually per 1,000 women 15-44, over the course of 30 years (roughly the span of a woman's childbearing years), about 1,050 abortions will occur per 1,000 women. This implies a lifetime average of about one abortion per woman.
Top 5 facts sources:
  1. Cohen, Susan A. (2007). New Data on Abortion Incidence, Safety Illuminate Key Aspects of Worldwide Abortion Debate. Alan Guttmacher Institute. Vol 10, Num 4.
  2. The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999). Sharing Responsibility Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide. Retrieved Jan, 2011.
  3. World Health Organization, Department of Reproductive Health and Research. (2007). Unsafe abortion: global and regional estimates of incidence of unsafe abortion and associated mortality. Retrieved Jan, 2011.
Tags: People, Top 5 Lowest, Abortion Statistics

Sources:  Alan Guttmacher Institute report: Sharing Responsibility Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide.

List Notes: Abortion rate is per 1,000 women ages 15-44. Data is legal induced abortion by country and completeness of statistics. List includes countries where statistics are incomplete or of unknown completeness (Zambia, India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Spain).
Countries with the Lowest Abortion Rates (all countries)

Related Top 5 Lists