Number of abortions per year U.S. 1973-2022

In 2022, there were around 613 thousand legal abortions in the United States. The number of legal abortions in the United States has decreased significantly since the early 1990’s. This number will probably continue to decrease in the coming years since many states have severely limited or completely banned abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022.

The states with the highest abortion rates

In 2022, the rate of legal abortions per live births in the United States was 19.9 per 100. In comparison, in 1990 there were 34.4 abortions per 100 live births. The states with the highest rates of abortion per live births are New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida. In Florida, there were around 37 abortions per 100 live births in 2022. Florida had the highest total number of abortions that year, followed by New York and Illinois. Missouri and South Dakota had the lowest number of abortions in 2022.

Out-of-state abortions

Critics of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade argue that while those who can afford it may be able to travel to other states for an abortion if their state bans the procedure, poorer residents will have no such choice. Even before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, out-of-state residents already accounted for a high share of abortions in certain states. In 2022, 69 percent of abortions in Kansas were performed on out-of-state residents, while out-of-state residents accounted for around 62 percent of abortions in New Mexico. Illinois had the highest total number of abortions performed on out-of-state residents that year, with around 16,849 procedures.

Number of legal abortions reported in the U.S. from 1973 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

Characteristic	Number of abortions in thousands
2022	613
2021	626
2020	620
2019	630
2018	620
2017	613
2016	623
2015	638
2014	653
2013	664
2012	699
2011	730
2010	766
2009	789
2008	826
2007	828
2006	852
2005	820
2004	839
2003	848
2002	854
2001	853
2000	857
1999	862
1998	884
1997	1,186
1996	1,226
1995	1,211
1994	1,267
1993	1,330
1992	1,359
1991	1,389
1990	1,429
1989	1,397
1988	1,371
1987	1,354
1986	1,328
1985	1,329
1984	1,334
1983	1,269
1982	1,304
1981	1,301
1980	1,298
1975	855
1973	616

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Release date

November 2024

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

1973 to 2022

Age group

15-44 years

Supplementary notes

* This statistic was assembled from several editions of CDC's Abortion Surveillance.
All figures are rounded. Overall trends presented in this table should be interpreted with caution because of the different numbers of reporting areas that provided data to CDC in different years. The following states did not report abortion data to CDC: California (2003–2019), Maryland (2007–2019), New Hampshire (2003–2019), Louisiana (2005), West Virginia (2003–2004). California (2013–2022), District of Columbia (2016), Maryland (2013–2022), New Hampshire (2013–2022), and New Jersey (2021–2022). For 2006, the number of legal abortions is greater than reported in the 2006 report because of numbers subsequently provided by Louisiana. For 2009, the number of legal abortions is greater than reported in the 2009 report because of numbers subsequently provided by Delaware. No surveys were conducted in 2003, 2006, or 2009. Data for those years were estimated by interpolation.

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