Abortion rate in France 1990-2022

In 2022, there were roughly 15.7 abortions per 1,000 women in France. The abortion rate in France remained pretty stable since the nineties, while the estimated abortion rate in Europe decreased significantly.

Abortion in France

France legalized abortion in 1975. If at that time the fight for legalization was intense, it appears that now the support for abortion right in France is widespread. In 2017, more than 80 percent of French people declared that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. France has a low rate of teenage pregnancy, but the abortion rate is not the same throughout the country. Overseas regions of France such as Guadeloupe or Mayotte have a higher abortion rate number of young women aged from 15 to 17 years, while in the rest of the country the majority of abortions concerned women aged between 20 and 29 years.

The evolution of contraception in France

Like in other European countries, French women seem to be more and more concerned about the consequences that may be related to their contraception method. In 2017, 32 percent of women in France stated that they were rather worried about the cardiovascular risks of hormonal contraception like the pill. Consequently, the share of French women using contraceptive oral pills is decreasing and other methods like IUD or implant are becoming more common.