Abortion statistics in the United States


Abortion statistics in the United States vary by source because reporting is not mandatory. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Guttmacher Institute regularly report these statistics using different methodologies. Abortion statistics are commonly presented as the number of abortions, the abortion rate or the abortion ratio.

CDC surveillance reports

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began abortion surveillance reports in 1969 to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions. CDC compiles the information that most states, the District of Columbia and New York City collect to produce national estimates. The CDC numbers, published annually, are derived from actual counts of every abortion reported to state health departments. Reporting to the CDC is not mandatory, and some states choose not to report abortions to the CDC. CDC’s surveillance system compiles information on legal induced abortions only. Because reporting is voluntary, CDC surveillance reports undercount the actual number of abortions in the United States.
For 2016, CDC reported 623,471 abortions from 48 of the 52 reporting areas. The abortion rate was 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years, and the abortion ratio was 186 abortions per 1,000 live births.
Note that there is a large decrease in reported abortions between 1997 and 1998. This is because CDC's reporting areas were reduced from 52 in 1997 to 47 in 1998. The actual decline from 1997 to 1998 in those 47 reporting areas was only 2%.
Table of Abortion Totals Reported by the CDC
Note: From 2006-2015, CDC estimates are based on 49 reporting areas. In 2016, CDC estimates are based on 48 reporting areas. California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia did not report to the CDC on abortion surveillance for that year. The abortion rates in 1970-2005 are retrieved from, 2006 from, and 2007-2016 from.
YearNumber of abortions
reported to CDC		Number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years Number of abortions
per 1,000
live births 		CDC Abortion
Surveillance Report
1970193,491552
1971485,81611137
1972586,76013180
1973615,83114196
1974763,47617242
1975854,85318272
1976988,26721312
1977950,67522325
19781,157,77623347
19791,251,92124358
19801,297,60625359
19811,300,76024358
19821,303,98024354
19831,268,98723349
19841,333,52124364
19851,328,57024354
19861,328,11223354
19871,353,67124356
19881,371,28524352
19891,396,65824346
19901,429,24724345
19911,388,93724339
19921,359,14523335
19931,330,41423321
19941,267,41521334
19951,210,88320311
19961,221,58521314
19971,186,03920274
1998884,27317264
1999861,78917256
2000857,47516246
2001853,48516246
2002854,12216246
2003848,16316241
2004839,22616238
2005820,15115233
2006852,38515.9236
2007827,60915.6231
2008825,56415.6234
2009789,50714.9227
2010765,65114.4228
2011730,32213.7219
2012699,20213.1210
2013664,43512.4200
2014652,63912.1193
2015638,16911.8188
2016623,47111.6186

Guttmacher Institute estimates

Unlike the CDC, the abortion rights research and policy organization Guttmacher Institute does not rely only on state reports but instead periodically surveys abortion providers in all states to estimate the number of abortions in the United States.
For 2014, the Guttmacher Institute reported 926,200 abortions, an abortion rate of 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years. For 2017, the Guttmacher Institute reported 862,320 abortions, an abortion rate of 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years.