Abortion statistics: Year ended December 2019

Abortion statistics measure the number of induced abortions that occur in New Zealand hospitals or licensed abortion clinics.

Key facts

In 2019:

• 12,857 induced abortions were performed in New Zealand, down from 13,282 the previous year.
• the general abortion rate was 13.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, down slightly from 13.7 per 1,000 in 2018
• women aged 20–24 had the highest abortion rates (19.5 abortions per 1,000 women), down from 20.5 in 2018
• 51 percent of all abortions were for women aged in their 20s
• 39 percent of all abortions were for women aged 30 years and over, compared with 27 percent in 2009
• most abortions (64 percent) were a woman’s first
• the median age of women having an abortion in 2019 was 28.1 years, up from 24.4 years in 2009
• 64 percent of abortions were performed before the 10th week of the pregnancy, up from 50 percent in 2009
• 18 percent of known pregnancies (live births, stillbirths, and abortions) ended in an abortion.

Number of abortions decreases in 2019: A total of 12,857 abortions were performed in New Zealand in 2019, down from 13,282 in 2018. The highest number of induced abortions recorded in New Zealand was 18,511 in 2003. The number of abortions each year has generally been decreasing since then, although has been more stable since 2014.

Almost two-thirds of abortions were the woman’s first: In 2019, 8,212 abortions (64 percent) were the woman’s first abortion. Less than a quarter (23 percent) of women having an abortion reported having one previous abortion and 13 percent reported two or more.

More abortions performed before 10 weeks of pregnancy: A greater proportion of abortions are now performed earlier in the pregnancy. In 2019, 64 percent of abortions were performed in the ninth week of gestation or earlier, up from 60 percent in 2018, and 50 percent in 2009.

Many women already have children: In 2019, 58 percent of women having an abortion had already had one or more previous live births, compared with 52 percent in 2009. In 2019, 38 percent had already had two or more previous live births, up from 32 percent in 2009.

Abortion rate lowest since 1990

It is important to note that the legal environment and the provision of abortion services affect comparisons over time for abortion rates and number of abortions.

Abortion rates: The general abortion rate (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) dropped slightly to 13.1 in 2019, from 13.7 in 2018. In 2009, the rate was 19.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years.

Teen abortion rates fall: The abortion rate for women aged 15–19 years was 7.9 abortions per 1,000 women in this age group in 2019, down from 8.4 per 1,000 in 2018. In 2009, the abortion rate for this age group was 24.7 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 years.

In 2019, 10 percent of abortions were for women aged under 20, compared with 23 percent in 2009.

Women in their 20s have the highest abortion rate: The abortion rate for women aged 20–24 years was 19.5 abortions per 1,000 women in this age group in 2019, the highest rate of any age group. This was followed by women aged 25–29 years, with a rate of 18.8 abortions per 1,000 women. Rates for both age groups have dropped from 36.5 and 25.4 per 1,000 in 2009, respectively.

In 2019, 51 percent of all abortions were for women in their 20s, the same percentage as in 2009.

Abortion rates increase for women 30 and over: The abortion rates for women 30 years and over have increased in 2019. In 2019, 39 percent of abortions were to women aged 30 years and over, compared with 27 percent in 2009.

Total abortion rate: The total abortion rate indicates the average number of abortions that 1,000 women would have during their life if they experienced the age-specific abortion rates of that year. In 2019 the total abortion rate was 384 abortions per 1,000 women, down from 402 per 1,000 in 2018. In 2009 the total abortion rate was 591 abortions per 1,000 women.

18 percent of known pregnancies ended in an abortion: The abortion ratio (proportion of known pregnancies terminated by an induced abortion) in 2019 was 177 abortions per 1,000 known pregnancies. This was down from 185 in 2018, and from 218 in 2009.  Known pregnancies include live births, stillbirths, and induced abortions, but don’t include miscarriages.

Interpret international comparisons with care

Differences in statistical coverage and laws relating to induced abortion affect international comparisons of abortion statistics. Induced abortions are not a notifiable procedure in many countries and statistics on abortion rates are not available for many countries. Consequently, take care when you interpret differences between abortion rates for New Zealand and other countries.

International data for 2019 is not available for many countries, so the following comparisons use 2018 data. In 2018, the general abortion rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) for New Zealand was 13.7 per 1,000.

The following countries had lower rates in 2018:

• Germany (7.1)
• Finland (7.6)
• Norway (12.1)
• Scotland (12.9).

The rates for the United States (13.2) and South Australia (13.2 in 2017) were similar to New Zealand. Western Australia (14.3), France (17.9), England and Wales (18.0), and Sweden (19.2) had higher rates.

Abortion law reform

It is likely that this will be the last abortion statistics information release published by Stats NZ. We have been publishing abortion statistics on behalf of the Abortion Supervisory Committee since 1998. On 23 March 2020, the Abortion Legislation Bill became law. This means that abortions have been decriminalised, and abortion services are aligned with other health services. Data on abortions is now collected by the Ministry of Health, who will now be responsible for publishing abortion statistics.

Before 2020, the last law change was in 1977 when the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act passed into law.

This Act specified the circumstances in which contraceptives could be supplied to young people, sterilisations could be undertaken, and abortions could be authorised.

The legislation meant that abortions for pregnancies of less than 20 weeks were decriminalised, provided that certain conditions were met, and that the abortion was authorised by two certifying consultants.

More data

Use Infoshare to access time-series data:

Subject category: Health
Group: Abortion statistics – ABN

Definitions and metadata

Abortion statistics – DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce these statistics.

Abortion statistics concepts – DataInfo+ gives the definitions of terms used in this release.

Media enquiries

James Weir
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communications@stats.govt.nz

Technical enquiries

Rebekah Hennessey
03 964 8844
info@stats.govt.nz

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