Historical abortion statistics, PR China

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 25 October 2008

Definition of table data (see notes after table for additional information):

• Live births.
• Abortions, reported includes legal reported induced abortions.
• Abortions, residents, in country only includes reported abortions obtained within the country by residents only.
• Abortions, residents, obtained abroad includes reported abortions by country residents obtained in other countries.
• Abortions, residents, total includes reported abortions by residents, obtained both within the country and abroad.
• Fetal deaths generally includes fetal deaths or stillbirths of at least 20 weeks` gestation.
• Miscarriages generally includes spontaneous fetal losses/ abortions, fetal deaths, or stillbirths, regardless of gestation period.
• Abortion ratio is abortions per 1000 live births.
• Abortion % is abortions as percentage of pregnancies (excluding fetal deaths/miscarriages).
• Abortion rate is abortions per 1000 women ages 15-44.

PR China regional level data also available here.

Notes:

• Parenthetical figures are estimates, some of which are derived from reported data.
• Abortion ratios, percentages, and rates may be based on a mix of data from different sources and thus may not represent a consistent time series.

Sources:

• China Training Center, Reproductive Health and Family Care, 2007, "...(1971-2006)," China Training Center, Reproductive Health and Family Care, on line [www.ctc-health.org.cn/file/].
• Department of Health, 4 July 2006, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2005," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/68/59/04136859.pdf].
• Department of Health, Aug. 2004, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2003," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/66/26/04116626.pdf].
• Greenhalch, Susan, and Edwin A. Winckler, 2005, Governing China's Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics, Stanford Univ. Press (Stanford, CA).
• Greenhalch, Susan, and Edwin A. Winckler, Sept. 2001, "Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond," UNHCR, on line [http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3de8d54a4.pdf].
• Hemminki, Elina, Zhuochun Wu, Guiying Cao, and Kirsi Viisainen, 2005, "Illegal births and legal abortions--the case of China," Reproductive Health, 2(5):doi:10.1186/1742-4755-2-5.
• Henshaw, Stanley K., Susheela Singh, and Taylor Haas, 1999, "Recent trends in abortion rates worldwide," International Family Planning Perspectives, 25(1):, on line at AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2504499.html].
• Henshaw, Stanley K., Susheela Singh, and Taylor Haas, 1999, "The incidence of abortion worldwide," International Family Planning Perspectives, 25:S30-S38, on line at AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/25s3099.html].
• National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, 2006, "Total population, crude birth rate, crude death rate,natural increase rate and total fertility rate," National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, on line [http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/EN/endata_1.htm].
• National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, 2008, "Total population at the end of year by region, 2003-2006; Crude birth rate of population by region, 2003-2006," National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, on line [http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/en/edatachina.htm].
• Office of Technology Assessment, Feb. 1982, World Population and Fertility Planning Technologies: The Next 20 Years, U.S. GPO (Washington, DC).
• Scharping, Thomas, 2003, Birth Control in China 1949-2000: Population Policy and Demographic Development, RoutledgeCurzon (London, UK).
• Sedgh, Gilda, Stanley K. Henshaw, Susheela Singh, Akinrinola Bankole, and Taylor Haas, Sept. 2007, "Legal abortion worldwide: incidence and recent trends," International Family Planning Perspectives, 33:106-116, on line at AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3310607.html].
• Tuan, Chi-hsien, 1988, "China," in International Handbook on Abortion, ed. by Paul Sachdev, Greenwood Press (New York, NY), pp. 98-111.
• Zhang, Guangyu, and Zhongwei Zhao, 2006, "Reexamining China's fertility puzzle: Data collection and quality over the last two decades," Population and Development Review, 32:293-321.