Historical abortion statistics, People's Republic of China
compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 18 December 2004
| year | live births,
legal and illegal | abortions,
legal (low) | abortions,
legal (high) | abortion ratio | abortion % |
|---|
| 1949 | 19,500,000 | | | | |
| 1950 | 20,400,000 | | | | |
| 1951 | 21,300,000 | | | | |
| 1952 | 21,100,000 | | | | |
| 1953 | 21,510,000 | | | | |
| 1954 | 22,450,000 | | | | |
| 1955 | 19,790,000 | | | | |
| 1956 | 19,760,000 | | | | |
| 1957 | 21,670,000 | | | | |
| 1958 | 19,050,000 | | | | |
| 1959 | 16,470,000 | | | | |
| 1960 | 13,890,000 | | | | |
| 1961 | 11,880,000 | | | | |
| 1962 | 24,600,000 | | | | |
| 1963 | 29,540,000 | | | | |
| 1964 | 27,290,000 | | | | |
| 1965 | 27,090,000 | | | | |
| 1966 | 25,770,000 | | | | |
| 1967 | 25,630,000 | | | | |
| 1968 | 27,570,000 | | | | |
| 1969 | 27,150,000 | | | | |
| 1970 | 27,360,000 | | | | |
| 1971 | 25,670,000 | 3,910,110 | | 152.3 | 13.2 |
| 1972 | 25,660,000 | 4,813,542 | | 187.6 | 15.8 |
| 1973 | 24,630,000 | 5,110,405 | | 207.5 | 17.2 |
| 1974 | 22,350,000 | 4,984,564 | | 223.0 | 18.2 |
| 1975 | 21,040,000 | 5,084,260 | | 241.7 | 19.5 |
| 1976 | 18,540,000 | 4,742,946 | 6,570,000 | 354.4 | 26.2 |
| 1977 | 17,870,000 | 5,229,569 | | 292.6 | 22.6 |
| 1978 | 17,450,000 | 5,391,204 | 5,528,000 | 316.8 | 24.1 |
| 1979 | 17,270,000 | 7,856,587 | | 454.9 | 31.3 |
| 1980 | 17,990,000 | 9,527,644 | | 529.6 | 34.6 |
| 1981 | 17,460,000 | 8,696,945 | | 498.1 | 33.2 |
| 1982 | 21,260,000 | 12,419,663 | | 584.2 | 36.9 |
| 1983 | 19,400,000 | 14,371,843 | 16,300,000 | 740.8 | 42.6 |
| 1984 | 18,130,000 | 8,890,140 | 9,500,000 | 524.0 | 34.4 |
| 1985 | 18,510,000 | 10,931,565 | | 590.6 | 37.1 |
| 1986 | 21,830,000 | 11,578,713 | 12,000,000 | 549.7 | 35.5 |
| 1987 | (23,640,000) | 10,394,500 | 10,489,412 | 444 | 30.7 |
| 1988 | 23,560,000 | 12,675,839 | | 538.0 | 35.0 |
| 1989 | 23,851,876 | 10,379,426 | 10,600,000 | 435.2 | 30.3 |
| 1990 | 24,080,000 | 13,493,926 | 14,000,000 | 581.4 | 36.8 |
| 1991 | 25,655,000 | 11,000,000 | 14,086,313 | 549.1 | 35.4 |
| 1992 | 21,190,000 | 10,000,000 | 10,416,287 | 491.6 | 33.0 |
| 1993 | 21,260,000 | 8,000,000 | 9,496,119 | 446.7 | 30.9 |
| 1994 | 21,547,000 | 6,280,000 | 9,467,064 | 439.4 | 30.5 |
| 1995 | 20,057,000 | 7,476,482 | 7,930,000 | 395.4 | 28.3 |
| 1996 | 20,062,000 | 8,834,195 | | 440.3 | 30.6 |
| 1997 | 20,380,000 | 6,589,869 | | 323.3 | 24.4 |
| 1998 | 19,910,000 | 2,630,000 | 7,384,290 | 370.9 | 27.1 |
| 1999 | 19,090,000 | (4,000,000) | (10,000,000) | 524 | 34.4 |
| 2000 | 17,780,000 | | | | |
| 2001 | 17,080,000 | (6,340,000) | | 371 | 27.1 |
| 2002 | 16,520,000 | | | | |
| 2003 | | | | | |
| 2004 | | | | | |
| year | live births,
legal and illegal | abortions,
legal (low) | abortions,
legal (high) | abortion ratio | abortion % |
|---|
Note: Data from the PRC is incomplete. Parenthetical figures are estimates. Some figures are derived. High and low figures for abortions represent the range of reported figures/estimates in the literature. See Abortion Statistics page for explanatory notes.
Sources:
- "Abortion Pill Leads to Increased Abortions in China", 26 Nov. 2000, on line, Euthanasia.com [http://www.euthanasia.com/chinapill.html].
- Aird, John S., 1981, "Fertility Decline in China", in Fertility Decline in the Less Developed Countries, ed. by Nick Eberstadt, Praeger (New York, NY).
- Baptists for Life, 19 Nov. 1996, "How many abortions are performed worldwide each year?", on line, Baptists for Life Inc. [http://www.bfl.org/world_abortionstats.htm].
- Coale, Ansley J., 1984, Rapid Population Change in China, 1952-1982, National Academy Press (Washington, DC), on line [http://books.nap.edu/books/0309034809/html/28.html#pagetop].
- Dept. for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, 1994, World Abortion Policies, on line.
- Dept. for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, 1995, 1993 Demographic Yearbook, 45th ed., UN (New York, NY).
- Dept. for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, 1997, 1995 Demographic Yearbook, 47th ed., UN (New York, NY).
- Dept. for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, 2001, 1999 Demographic Yearbook, 49th ed., UN (New York, NY).
- Dept. for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division, 2003, 2001 Demographic Yearbook, United Nations (New York, NY).
- Greenhalgh, Susan, and Edwin A. Windkler, Sept. 2001, Perspective Series: Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond, Immigration and Naturalization Service (Washington, DC), on line, INS [http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/services/asylum/ric/documentation/pschn01001.pdf].
- Henshaw, Stanley K., Sushella Singh, and Taylor Haas, Jan. 1999, "The Incidence of Abortion Worldwide", International Family Planning Perspectives, 25:sup, on line, Alan Guttmacher Institute [http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/25s3099.html].
- Henshaw, Stanley K., Sushella Singh, and Taylor Haas, Mar. 1999, "Recent Trends in Abortion Rates Worldwide", Family Planning Perspectives, 25:1, on line, Alan Guttmacher Institute [http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/2504499.html].
- Hunter, Brian, ed., 1991, Statesman's Yearbook 1991-92, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY).
- Lyle, Katherine Ch'iu, and John S. Aird, 1982, "China", in International Encyclopedia of Population Vol. 1, ed. by John A. Ross, Free Press (New York, NY).
- Moshe, Steven W., 1993, A Mother's Ordeal: One Woman's Fight against China's One-Chile Policy.
- National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, May 1999, "Funding the UNFPA: China's Coercive Population Control Program", on line [http://det.csl.edu/faculty/adams/OGI/HTML/Documents/UNFPA.html or http://www.pccofsfv.com/china_population.htm].
- National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, Aug. 2002, "National Report of the People's Republic of China to the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference," on line, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China [http://www.sfpc.gov.cn/en/enews20021220-2.htm].
- National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, 2003, "Total population, crude birth rate, crude death rate, natural increase rate and total fertility rate," on line, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China [http://www.sfpc.gov.cn/en/endata_1.htm].
- Office of Technology Assessment, Feb. 1982, World Population and Fertility Planning Technologies: The Next 20 Years, U.S. GPO (Washington, DC).
- Reddy, Marlita A., ed., 1996, Statistical Abstract of the World, 2nd ed., Gale (Detroit, MI).
- Sachdev, Paul, ed., 1988, International Handbook on Abortion, Greenwood Press (New York, NY).
- Smil, Vaclav, 1993, China's Environmental Crisis: An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development, M.E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY).
- Turner, Barry, ed., 1998, Statesman's Yearbook 1998-99, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY).
- UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank, June 2001, Use of emergency contraceptive pills could halve the induced abortion rate in Shanghai, China, Social science research policy briefs, on line, World Health Organization [http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/hrp/Policy_briefs/pb4.pdf].
- U.N. Population Division, 2002, "China", Abortion Policies: A Global Review, on line United Nations [http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/doc/chinas1.doc].
- U.S. Embassy Beijing, "Family Planning in China: RU-486, Abortion and Population Trends", Nov. 2000, on line, U.S. Embassy Beijing [http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/english/sandt/ru486.html].
- World Health Organization, "Country Profiles: China", WHO Western Pacific Region, on line [http://www.wpro.who.int/themes.focuses/theme2/focus3/country_profiles/china.htm].
- Wu Shangchun, 2000, "Medical Abortion in China", Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, 55:3, on line [http://jamwa.amwa-doc.org/vol55/pdf/55_3_21.pdf].
- "China Lowers Birth Rate to Levels in West: 6.5 Million Sterilized in '92, Official Says", 22 Apr. 1993, World Tibet Network News, on line, Canada Tibet Committee [http://www.tibet.ca/wtnarchive/1993/4/22_1.html].
© 2000-2003, 2004 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 18 December 2004.
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