Historical abortion statistics, Switzerland

Abortion statistics and other data--Johnston`s Archive

Historical abortion statistics, Switzerland

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 6 June 2026

Definition of table data (see notes after table for additional information):

Live births.
Abortions, reported includes legal reported induced abortions.
Abortions (AWR) are combined reported and estimated abortion occurrences from the Abortion Worldwide Report and working papers.
Abortions, residents, in country only includes reported abortions obtained within the country by residents only.
Abortions, residents, obtained abroad includes reported abortions by country residents obtained in other countries.
Abortions, residents, total includes reported abortions by residents, obtained both within the country and abroad.
Fetal deaths generally includes fetal deaths or stillbirths of at least 20 weeks` gestation.
Miscarriages generally includes spontaneous fetal losses/ abortions, fetal deaths, or stillbirths, regardless of gestation period.
Abortion ratio is abortions per 1000 live births.
Abortion % is abortions as percentage of pregnancies (excluding fetal deaths/miscarriages).
Abortion rate, residents is abortions by residency per 1000 women ages 15-44.
Abortion rate, occurrences (AWR) is abortion occurrences from Abortion Worldwide Report figures per 1000 women ages 15-39.

Switzerland regional level data also available here.

year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	fetal deaths	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	fetal deaths	residents, in/out of country	all in country	residents, in/out of country	all in country	abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
1937			(400)
1938			(700)
1939			(1,100)
1940			(1,500)
1941			(1,800)
1942			(2,200)
1943			(2,600)
1944			(2,900)
1945			(3,300)
1946			(3,700)
1947			(4,000)
1948	87,763		(4,400)
1949	85,308		(4,800)
1950	84,776		(5,100)
1951	81,903		(5,500)
1952	83,549		(6,600)
1953	83,029		(7,700)
1954	83,741		(8,800)
1955	85,331		(9,800)
1956	87,912		(10,900)
1957	90,823		(12,000)
1958	91,421		(13,100)
1959	92,973		(14,200)
1960	94,372		(15,300)				1,089
1961	99,238		(16,400)
1962	104,322		(17,500)
1963	109,993		(18,500)
1964	112,890		(19,600)
1965	111,835		(20,700)				1,181
1966	109,738	21,839	21,839	(21,839)		21,839		199.0	199.0	16.60	16.60
1967	107,417		(20,500)
1968	105,130		(19,100)		13	13		0.12		0.01
1969	102,520		(17,800)		45	45		0.44		0.04
1970	99,216	16,317	16,317	13,717	115	13,832	886	139.4	164.5	12.24	14.12	12.1
1971	96,261		(16,200)		389	389	830	4.0		0.40
1972	91,342		(16,100)		675	675	792	7.4		0.73
1973	87,518		(16,000)		719	719	665	8.2		0.81
1974	84,507		(15,900)		618	618	603	7.3		0.73
1975	78,464		(15,800)		422	422	566	5.4		0.53
1976	74,199		(15,800)		308	308	536	4.2		0.41
1977	72,829		(15,700)		284	284	423	3.9		0.39
1978	71,375	15,562	15,562	13,762	292	14,054	435	196.9	218.0	16.45	17.90
1979	71,986		(15,700)		234	234	412	3.3		0.32
1980	73,661	15,837	15,837	14,937	179	15,116	361	205.2	215.0	17.03	17.70	11.3
1981	73,747	17,450	17,450	(17,450)	153	17,603	373	238.7	236.6	19.27	19.13
1982	74,916	15,436	15,436	(15,436)	106	15,542	366	207.5	206.0	17.18	17.08
1983	73,659	15,150	15,150	(15,150)	110	15,260	361	207.2	205.7	17.16	17.06
1984	74,710	14,969	14,969	(14,969)	102	15,071	352	201.7	200.4	16.79	16.69	9.3
1985	74,684	14,146	14,146	12,446	92	12,538	345	167.9	189.4	14.37	15.92
1986	76,320	14,145	14,145	(14,145)	64	14,209	334	186.2	185.3	15.70	15.64
1987	76,505	12,432	12,432	(12,432)	100	12,532	337	163.8	162.5	14.08	13.98
1988	80,345	12,778	12,778	(12,778)	100	12,878	311	160.3	159.0	13.81	13.72
1989	81,180	12,759	12,759	(12,759)	57	12,816	332	157.9	157.2	13.63	13.58
1990	83,939	12,986	12,986	12,686	43	12,729	390	151.6	154.7	13.17	13.40	8.7	10.20
1991	86,200	12,941	12,941	(12,941)	58	12,999	357	150.8	150.1	13.10	13.05	8.6	10.09
1992	86,910	12,628	12,628	(12,628)	39	12,667	337	145.7	145.3	12.72	12.69	8.3	9.78
1993	83,762	12,145	12,145	12,145	41	12,186	348	145.5	145.0	12.70	12.66	8.0	9.37
1994	82,980	11,813	11,813	(11,813)	29	11,842	286	142.7	142.4	12.49	12.46	7.8	9.09
1995	82,203	11,861	11,861	11,861	26	11,887	336	144.6	144.3	12.63	12.61		9.11
1996	83,007	12,756	12,756	(12,756)	38	12,794	309	154.1	153.7	13.35	13.32	8.4	9.84
1997	79,485	12,090	12,090	(12,090)	23	12,113	336	152.4	152.1	13.22	13.20		9.39
1998	78,949	12,629	12,629	(12,629)	26	12,655	308	160.3	160.0	13.81	13.79		9.87
1999	78,408	12,200	12,200	12,200	19	12,219	277	155.8	155.6	13.48	13.46		9.59
2000	78,458	12,312	12,312	12,278	17	12,295	283	156.7	156.9	13.55	13.56	8.1	9.71
2001	72,295	12,418	12,418	12,418	20	12,438	279	172.0	171.8	14.68	14.66	8.2	9.82
2002	72,372	11,844	11,844	11,836	13	11,849	255	163.7	163.7	14.07	14.06	7.71	9.39
2003	71,848	10,820	10,820	10,805	14	10,819	306	150.6	150.6	13.09	13.09	7.01	8.61
2004	73,082	10,959	10,959	10,944	8	10,952	276	149.9	150.0	13.03	13.04	7.08	8.76
2005	72,903	10,818	10,818	10,788	7	10,795	307	148.1	148.4	12.90	12.92	6.98	8.69
2006	73,371	10,594	10,594	10,544	6	10,550	342	143.8	144.4	12.57	12.62	6.84	8.54
2007	74,494	10,645	10,645	10,525	5	10,530	297	141.4	142.9	12.38	12.50	6.89	8.54
2008	76,691	10,924	10,924	10,848	10	10,858	341	141.6	142.4	12.40	12.47	6.93	8.67
2009	78,286	10,681	10,681	10,187	9	10,196	345	130.2	136.4	11.52	12.01	6.8	8.38
2010	80,290	11,101	11,101	10,650		10,650	346	132.6	138.3	11.71	12.15	7.1	8.59
2011	80,808	11,100	11,100	10,715	6	10,721	349	132.7	137.4	11.71	12.08	7.1	8.53
2012	82,164	10,907	10,907	10,531	5	10,536	350	128.2	132.7	11.37	11.72	6.9	8.41
2013	82,731	10,484	10,484	10,177	4	10,181	402	123.1	126.7	10.96	11.25	6.7	8.08
2014	85,287	10,275	10,275	10,016	8	10,024	368	117.5	120.5	10.52	10.75	6.5	7.89
2015	86,559	10,289	10,289	10,088	7	10,095	357	116.6	118.9	10.44	10.62	6.5	7.89
2016	87,883	10,273	10,273	10,102	4	10,106	371	115.0	116.9	10.31	10.47	6.4	7.87
2017	87,381	10,037	10,037	9,885	9	9,894	362	113.2	114.9	10.17	10.30	6.3	7.71
2018	87,851	10,457	10,457	10,264	3	10,267	381	116.9	119.0	10.46	10.64	6.5	8.08
2019	86,172	10,663	10,663	10,390	9	10,399	344	120.7	123.7	10.77	11.01	6.7	8.29
2020	85,914	11,143	11,143	10,906	4	10,910	319	127.0	129.7	11.27	11.48	6.9	8.70
2021	89,644	11,053	11,053	10,873		10,873	395	121.3	123.3	10.82	10.98	6.8	8.66
2022	82,371	11,341	11,341	11,133		11,133	359	135.2	137.7	11.91	12.10	7.0	8.92
2023	80,024	12,208	12,208	11,943		11,943	334	149.2	152.6	12.99	13.24	7.2	9.62
2024	78,256	12,434	12,434	12,205		12,205	331	156.0	158.9	13.49	13.71	7.3	9.82
2025	77,902		(12,800)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	fetal deaths	abortion ratio		abortion %		abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)
year	live births	abortions, reported	abortions (AWR)	abortions, residents, in country only	abortions, residents, obtained abroad	abortions, residents, total	fetal deaths	residents, in/out of country	all in country	residents, in/out of country	all in country	abortion rate, residents	abortion rate, occurrences (AWR)

Notes:

Parenthetical figures are estimates, some of which are derived from reported data.
Abortion ratios, percentages, and rates may be based on a mix of data from different sources and thus may not represent a consistent time series.

Sources:

Council of Europe, 2004, "Switzerland, Table 2: Births, deaths and legal abortions," in Recent Demographic Developments in Europe: Demographic Yearbook 2003, on line at COE [http://www.coe.int/t/e/social_cohesion/population/CHTAB2.xls].
Department of Health, 27 July 2005, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2004," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/75/74/04117574.pdf].
Department of Health, 30 Oct. 2003, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2002," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/00/59/04080059.PDF].
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Office for National Statistics, 1994, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1993," National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB20_1993/ab20_1993.pdf].
Office for National Statistics, 1995, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1994," National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB21_1994/ab21_1994.pdf].
Office for National Statistics, 1996, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1995," National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB22_1995/ab22_1995.pdf].
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Office for National Statistics, 1998, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1997," National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB24_1997/ab24_1997.pdf].
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Office for National Statistics, 2000, "Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1999," National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB26_1999/ab26_1999.pdf].
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Potts, Malcolm, Peter Diggory, and John Peel, 1977, Abortion, Cambridge Univ. Press (Cambridge, UK).

© 2000-2025, 2026 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 6 June 2026.
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