More than 73 million abortions were performed worldwide in 2025, making abortion the leading reason behind death last 12 months. The figure draws on World Health Organization estimates compiled by the worldwide data-tracking platform Worldometers.
The Worldometers total, based on a WHO fact sheet, places the annual global abortion rate at about 39 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49. It estimates that 61% of unintended pregnancies, out of 121 million per 12 months, led to abortion.
Compared to other causes of death, abortion exceeded all others by a large margin. In 2025, cancer reportedly caused 10 million deaths, smoking-related illnesses 6.2 million, infectious diseases 17 million, and HIV/AIDS 2 million.
Worldometers, which tracks population growth, births, deaths, automobile production, book publications and CO2 emissions, amongst other data, reported a complete of 140 million global deaths from all causes in 2025. Of these, 67.1 million were from causes aside from abortion, meaning abortions accounted for nearly 52% of the entire, as noted by LifeNews.
In the United States, Worldometers estimates between 1,500 and a couple of,500 abortions are performed every day. Based on 2020 data from the Guttmacher Institute, this reflects a rate of 14.4 abortions per 1,000 women and suggests that about 20% of all pregnancies, excluding miscarriages, end in abortion.
Although abortion rates have declined within the U.S. over the past decade, the entire number stays high. An estimated 930,160 abortions were performed nationally in 2020.
The cumulative variety of abortions within the United States since 1973 is estimated at 66 million. That 12 months marked the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which was overturned in 2022.
WHO’s global abortion estimate includes each legal and illegal procedures. It is predicated on comprehensive modeling that updates earlier figures from 2010 to 2014, when the estimate stood at 56 million annually.
The updated estimate reflects population growth and wider access to abortion pills, together with improved data collection related to unregulated procedures.
The Worldometers abortion tally is published in real time and based on WHO modeling slightly than direct counts.
The final figure for 2025 was reported this week.
Each abortion within the 73 million figure represents a terminated pregnancy, and biological details about fetal development are cited by pro-life advocates as grounds for opposition.
An annual March for Life event is scheduled in Washington, D.C., this month to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and advocate for expanded legal protections for unborn children.
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