SHOCKING: New Study Reveals the Alarming Number of Abortions Recorded in Nigeria Within a Year

A new study conducted by two institutes in Nigeria, has shown the alarming rising rate of abortion incidences in Nigeria
The study titled ‘The incidence of abortion in Nigeria’, has revealed a rise in abortion rate in the country from 61,000 in 1996 to an estimated 1.25 million in 2012.

The research conducted by Guttmacher Institute and the University of Ibadan, discovered that 1.25 million abortions were performed in the country in 2012, compared with the 61, 000 abortions estimated to have occurred in Nigeria in 1996.

The research also showed that in spite of Nigeria’s highly restrictive abortion law, the estimated abortion rate was 33 Abortion per 1, 000 women aged 15-49 in 2012. Although this rate is greater than the 1996 rate (23 per 1, 000) estimated in a previous study, the most prudent conclusion may be that the abortion rate has increased slightly, as the two rates were calculated using different approaches.


Nationally, one in seven pregnancies (14%) ended in induced abortion in 2012. Within Nigeria, rates of abortion according to the research vary: in 2012, there were 27 abortions per 1, 000 women aged 15-49 in the South West and North Central zones; 31 per 1, 000 in the North West and South East Zones; and 41 and 44 per 1, 000 in the North East and South South zones, respectively.

The proportion of pregnancies ending in induced abortion explained the research was lowest in the South West with 11%, and highest in the North East with 16% and South South with 17%.


The higher rates of abortion in the North East and South South zones shows in the study can be explained by two of the main underlying factors that increase women’s need for abortion: the desire for smaller families by women in the South South with lowest desired number of children at an average of 3.9 and the nonuse of contraception by women in the North East as only 3% are using a method.

Director, International Research, Guttmacher Institute, New York, Dr. Akinrinola Bankole, disclosed this while briefing Newsmen on Wednesday, November 4, in Abuja at an event organized by IPAS in collaboration with the Guttmacher Institute and University of Ibadan.


He said: “That most of these abortions were clandestine and many were unsafe and an unsafe abortion is a major contributor to Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate, which remains among the highest in the world.”