A record rate of abortions by residents of England and Wales was registered for 2019.

The percentage of conceptions leading to a legal abortion among all women in England and Wales increased from 24.0% in 2018 to 25.2% in 2019, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

This means that for every three live births there was one abortion.

The total figures showed that 207,384 of the 821,809 pregnancies conceived by residents of England and Wales in 2019 ended in abortion.

The abortion rate is the highest percentage of pregnancies to end in abortion since records on this figure began in 1990 in England and Wales, and marks the first time the figure has exceeded 25 per cent.

An already reported further rise in abortions in 2020 indicates the rate for that year may be even higher than 2019’s record rate.