Around a third of conceptions now end in abortion, according to stark figures released today.

Some 32.1 per cent of pregnancies were terminated in 2023, up from 29.7 per cent the previous year and the highest proportion on record for England and Wales. In 2010 the level was just 20.8 per cent.

The 32,000 spike in abortions year-on-year - to 279,970 - almost completely accounted for an overall increase in conceptions, from 834,260 in 2022 to 871,050 in 2023. 

As a result the number of maternities - conceptions resulting in births - barely changed.

The shift came despite another decline in teenage pregnancies, the age group that is most likely to opt for a termination.

The reasons for the striking increase are unclear. The Office for National Statistics pointed to 'scares' about the safety of the contraceptive pill, suggesting that could have led to people using less reliable methods.

There have also been concerns about housing costs putting pressure on the finances of younger couples. London, where property is most expensive, has seen the biggest fall in the conception rate over the past decade.  

The rise in abortions seems to have stepped up around the time of the Covid pandemic and then the Ukraine war, both of which heightened cost of living problems. 

The ONS said women aged 30 to 34 years had the highest number of conceptions at 260,810, and the highest rate - 118.9 per thousand women - for the seventh year in a row.

They also had the lowest percentage of conceptions leading to abortion at 22.4 per cent. The ONS does not collect data on miscarriages for this series of figures. 

Women aged over 40 years had a record conception rate of 17.6 per 1,000 women in 2023, surpassing the previous high of 17.3 per 1,000 women in 2021. 

But the proportion ending in an abortion for the age bracket has gone from 28.3 per cent in 2013 to 38 per cent in 2023. 

Teenage conception rates have remained below pre-Covid levels, with 28 conceptions per 1,000 women aged under 20. The number was the lowest on record at 19,820, with over half leading to an abortion.

The West Midlands had the highest conception rate at 80.9 per 1,000 women, while the South West was lowest at 64.8 per 1,000.

Some 12 per cent of conceptions within a marriage or civil partnership ended in an abortion in 2022, compared to 37.9 per cent for those who were not hitched. 

Just 2.3 per cent of those who conceived outside wedlock tied the knot before having the baby. 

Separate data published in January by the Department of Health showed abortions in England and Wales at a record 277,970 in 2023.

The difference is because the ONS bases its numbers on the estimated date of conception, while the Government uses the date the abortion took place.

Charities and health leaders responded to the Government figures in January by saying the record number of abortions was likely to reflect economic pressures and the rising cost of living, as well as poor access to sexual health services.

Temporary measures put in place during the pandemic that approved the use of both pills for early medical abortion at home, without the need to first attend a hospital or clinic, were subsequently made permanent in England and Wales in 2022.