Abortion Ratio

The proportion of pregnancies terminated by an induced abortion. From 2007, Stats NZ's standard for abortion ratios is the number of induced abortions per 1,000 known pregnancies (live births, stillbirths and induced abortions combined).

However, different abortion ratios can be calculated depending on data availability (especially of lagged births for international comparisons). These include:

• the number of induced abortions per 1,000 live births
• the number of induced abortions per 1,000 live births occurring six months later
• the number of induced abortions per 1,000 induced abortions and live births
• the number of induced abortions per 1,000 induced abortions and live births occurring six months later.

Care needs to be taken when comparing abortion ratios to ensure that consistent definitions are used.