According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, these are are the top five global rankings of per capita abortion (rate of abortions) across countries for the year 2009 for women 15-44 yrs:
| Country | Number of Abortions | Abortion Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
China | 7,930,000 | 26.1 per 1,000 women |
|
2
|
Russian Federation | 2,287,300 | 68.4 per 1,000 women |
|
3
|
Vietnam | 1,520,000 | 83.3 per 1,000 women |
|
4
|
United States | 1,365,700 | 22.9 per 1,000 women |
|
5
|
Ukraine | 635,600 | 57.2 per 1,000 women |
Here are the bottom five countries in per capita abortion (abortion rates) for women 15-44 in 2009
| 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 |
- Cohen, Susan A. (2007). New Data on Abortion Incidence, Safety Illuminate Key Aspects of Worldwide Abortion Debate. Alan Guttmacher Institute. Vol 10, Num 4.
- The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999). Sharing Responsibility Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide. Retrieved Jan, 2011.
- 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.
Another study looking at the percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion for the year 2010 comes up with this ranking:
1. Greenland 2007 51.1
2. Russia 2008 44.7
3. Guadeloupe 2007 39.8
4. Nagorno-Karabakh 2007 38.1
5. Cuba 2007 37.0
6. Romania 2008 36.6
7. Estonia 2008 34.4
8. Bulgaria 2008 32.0
9. Martinique 2007 31.6
10. China (PRC) 2007 31.1
11. Hungary 2008 30.8
12. Latvia 2008 30.4
13. Moldova 2008 29.0
14. Cocos Islands 1978 28.6
15. Belarus 2008 28.2
16. Georgia 2008 28.1
17. Belize 1996 28.0
18. Kazakhstan 2008 26.8
19. Sweden 2008 25.8
20. Korea, South (ROK) 1999 25.6
21. New Caledonia 1998 25.2
22. French Guiana 2007 25.0
23. Slovakia 2008 24.3
24. Reunion 2007 23.5
25. Singapore 2008 23.4
26. Armenia 2008 23.2
27. Serbia 2008 23.2
28. Seychelles 2006 23.2
29. Vietnam 2007 23.2
30. United States 2005 22.6
31. Ukraine 2008 21.9
32. New Zealand 2008 21.6
33. France 2007 21.4
34. Norway 2008 20.9
35. United Kingdom 2008 20.9
36. Canada 2006 20.7
37. Lithuania 2008 20.5
38. Macedonia 2008 20.5
39. Australia 2007 20.2
40. Hong Kong 2005 19.9
41. Jersey 2004 19.9 *
42. Japan 2007 19.1
43. Denmark 2006 18.8
44. Albania 2008 18.7
45. Slovenia 2008 18.5
46. Dominican Republic 2005 18.2
47. Spain 2008 18.2
48. Montenegro 2007 17.7
49. Italy 2008 17.4
50. Turkey 2008 17.0
51. Croatia 2008 16.9
52. Iceland 2008 16.5
53. Mayotte 2006 16.0
54. Czech Republic 2008 15.8
55. Guernsey 2000 15.0 *
56. Finland 2008 14.9
57. Mongolia 2008 14.5
58. Germany 2008 14.4
59. Azerbaijan 2008 14.2
60. Kyrgyzstan 2008 14.0
61. Belgium 2007 13.5 *
62. Netherlands 2007 13.5
63. Greece 2005 13.3
64. Guyana 2007 13.3
65. Andorra 1995 13.0
66. Taiwan (ROC) 1999 13.0
67. Isle of Man 2007 12.8 *
68. Switzerland 2008 12.4
69. Portugal 2008 11.9
70. Bahrain 2002 11.4
71. Anguilla 2005 11.2
72. Israel 2008 11.1
73. Barbados 1995 10.3
74. Puerto Rico 2006 10.2
75. Tunisia 2008 10.1
76. Costa Rica 2005 10.0
77. Bermuda 1984 9.9
78. Turkmenistan 2008 9.9
79. Turks and Caicos Islands 2005 9.1
80. Tajikistan 2007 8.7
81. South Africa 2007 7.7
82. Saint Helena 1990 7.1
83. Ireland 2008 5.8 *
84. Uzbekistan 2008 5.8
85. Faeroe Islands 2008 5.3
86. Kosovo 2006 4.6
87. Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001 3.2
88. Austria 2000 3.0
89. Suriname 1994 3.0
90. India 2004 2.6
91. Gibraltar 2008 1.7 *
92. Qatar 2005 1.3
93. Malta 2008 0.9 *
94. Venezuela 1968 0.8
95. United Arab Emirates 2006 0.10 *
96. Mexico 2007 0.09 *
97. Poland 2007 0.09 *
98. Botswana 1984 0.04
99. Chile 1991 0.02
100. Luxembourg 1997 0.02 *
101. Panama 2000 0.02
The US is 30th and India is 90th on a list of 101 countries ranking the rate at which pregnancies ended in abortion. Notably the top rankings are dominated by Marxist or formerly Marxist countries. While India has had socialist policies, it is steeped in religion culturally. The bottom ten countries (those with the fewest pregnancies ending in abortion) are dominated by religious societies (Muslim, Hindu, and Christian).
This is interesting and horrible. All those lives gone. Now I don’t know much about gender preference but how much effect does male baby preference have in abortions in China? I thought India would be higher up in the list. From the way people talk its almost as if all the baby girls are getting aborted. After reading your blog I should rethink a lot of things. Considering India’s population the per capita abortion is amazing!
Hi Edwin,
Well, that’s propaganda.
Of course, India – with 1.2 billion people – is going to have a large number of all sorts of crimes in absolute terms, simply because of the population.
But it’s the per capita rates that count.
Now, in all countries these rates are under-reported.
People seem to think that’s true only of illiterate or uneducated populations, but it’s not.
In the US, for example, a number of conservative states have only few abortion clinics, so women who have unwanted pregnancies often try to abort on their own.
Under-reporting has to do with social stigma, not just with means.
On the other hand, India has been very socialist in its policies for a long time and the government is active in the distribution of birth-control.
There’s also an aggressive policy of putting out creches and collecting unwanted babies.
So these things bring down the abortion rate.
Also, India is still a culturally conservative country in many ways, although Westernized media is changing that.
Sex-selective abortions do get a lot of play in the media, but, really, why is it any worse to abort a particular gender than to abort any child?
I’ve written about this in depth a while back.
Google “Missing Women, Missing Selves” – which is a piece about female infanticide.
I was pro-choice then, but my argument was still based on my conviction that post-birth killing (especially when the mother suffers post-partum depression), at least in the first year, should not be treated too differently from late-term abortion.
In other words, I didn’t see the difference between what’s called infanticide (when it’s done by poor women with no access to other means of terminating a pregnancy, under social pressure, just after birth) and what’s called “right to abortion,” when it’s done just before birth by affluent women with the means to terminate pregnancy.
In 2004, I came down in favor of considering everything upto and including infanticide from 6 mths- 1 yr as a special case and not equal to murder….more akin to manslaughter.
Today, after examining the nature of modern feminism, I am convinced this is absolutely the wrong direction to go.
I do not think modern radical feminists are much concerned about the child’s life at all and so I don’t trust them to be honest brokers.
I think they are simply employing the rule, “might makes right.”
They want abortion on demand, which is insupportable.
Another important thing: I refuse to accept that a child is solely the woman’s.
It’s half her partner’s genetic material and even her “half” belongs to her parents and grand-parents as well.
Her “sole” portion in the genetic material is smaller than half. She is the STEWARD of the child, not the owner. She is the temporary shelter (when it’s in the womb).
So modern abortion rights ignore the parents and grand-parents on both sides; they ignore the man/partner; they ignore the nature of the residence in the womb (which is less and less necessary for viability of the baby, as technology develops).
It is not the child enslaving the woman, as feminists argue.
It’s the woman, enslaving and destroying the child, as thought it’s her disposable property.
My conclusion these days, for all these reasons, is that there should be NO grey area at all.
From the moment of conception, the fetus should be considered fully human and entitled to all the rights of a human being.
Spouses and ancestors should have some kind of claim against a woman who aborts a child conceived outside rape (in the standard meaning of the term)for no reason but her “choice”….
It’s time to consider abortion at all levels either manslaughter or murder.
These days, feminism resembles the military, which excuses the killing of civilians as “collateral damage.”
WELL SAID
I liked your article “Missing Women, Missing Selves” Growing up in America it is shocking to think about female infanticide and the like happening in India.
But its good that people are talking about it in India. The movie Matrubhoomi really is horrific to even read about i don’t think I am going to watch it anytime soon. But I am glad movies about this topic are being made.Hopefully we will have a healthier respect for women in that regard.