Conception Statistics, England and Wales 2023

Product Description

Annual statistics on conceptions to residents of England and Wales, with numbers and rates by age group including women aged under 18 years.

Main points

• There were 871,050 conceptions for women of all ages in England and Wales in 2023, which is the third consecutive annual increase, with a rate of 72.7 conceptions per 1,000 women.
• The percentage of conceptions leading to abortion was 32.1%; rising from 29.7% in 2022 and the highest proportion on record.
• The number of conceptions leading to abortion has increased by 35.2% since 2019, having previously been stable for more than a decade.
• The number of conceptions leading to maternities has continued on the downward trajectory that began in 2012, declining by an average of 1.5% per year in that time period.
• Teenage conception rates have remained below pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) levels, with 28.0 conceptions per 1,000 women aged under 20 years in 2023.
• Women aged 30 to 34 years had the highest number of conceptions (260,810) and conception rate (118.9) for the seventh year in a row and the lowest percentage of conceptions leading to abortion (22.4%).
• The West Midlands had the highest conception rate (80.9 per 1,000 women) and the South West the lowest (64.8 per 1,000) of all the English regions and Wales.