Safe Abortion Calculator

Safe abortion care saves lives and money. Estimates from the Safe Abortion Calculator reflect abortion care provided fully or partially within the health system, but self-managed abortion—the use of medication to manage an abortion at home—is also an effective and important way to access safe abortion care.

Use the toolbar below to calculate the health and economic impacts of expanding access in low- or middle-income countries and build the case for investment in safe abortion care.

This calculator counts a safe abortion as one provided by a trained provider using an appropriate method recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). An unsafe abortion meets fewer or none of these criteria and includes both less and least safe abortions. For more information, see the FAQ.

Safe abortion care involves the use of medication or procedures recommended by WHO that is appropriate to the pregnancy duration and performed by a trained provider. This calculator counts all safe abortion care as including access to accurate information, counseling and services provided within the formal health care system, recognizing that even people self-managing an abortion should have access to these services if they want or need them.
About the Calculator Calculator FAQ
Currency Code:
USD
Exchange Rate:
1
Current PAC Total:
13,420,199
Current PAC Cost:
1,563,012,773
Current SAC Cost:
334,131,590
Estimated PAC Total:
13,420,199
Estimated PAC Cost:
1,563,012,773
Estimated SAC Cost:
334,131,590

Change in estimated abortion care costs in low- and middle-income countries

Download chart (PNG)

USD in billions

Total:
1,897,144,363
Total:
1,897,144,363

Current costs at 32% of safe abortion care

Postabortion care
USD 1,563,012,773
Safe abortion care
USD 334,131,590

Adjusted costs at 32% of safe abortion care

Postabortion care
USD 1,563,012,773
Safe abortion care
USD 334,131,590

guttmacher.org

Costs reduced by: Costs increased by:
0 USD
0.0%

Change in estimated number of people needing postabortion care in low- and middle-income countries

Download chart (PNG)

No. in millions

13,420,199
13,420,199

Number of people based on current 32% safe abortion care

13,420,199

Number of people based on adjusted 32% safe abortion care

13,420,199

guttmacher.org

Number of people reduced by: Number of people increased by:
0
0.0%

Currently 32% of abortions in low- and middle-income countries are safe.

Show data if of abortions were provided through safe abortion care.

Safe abortion care % for this country is based on subregional estimates.

Current safety rate: 32%
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Country-specific resources

Country profiles for 150 countries include estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion, along with need for sexual and reproductive health services.

Family Planning Investment Impact Calculator is an interactive tool for estimating the health benefits of investing in family planning in low- and middle-income countries. The calculator estimates impacts on:

  • The number of women and couples receiving modern contraceptive care
  • Unintended pregnancies, unplanned births and unsafe abortions averted by increased contraceptive use
  • The number of women's and girls' lives that would be saved
  • Cost savings from prevention of unintended pregnancies

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About the Calculator

What is the Safe Abortion Calculator?

This interactive tool estimates the impacts of changes in the proportion of abortions that are safely provided within the health system in 117 low- and middle- income countries. It allows users to generate data and graphics on the following:

  • Current cost estimates of postabortion care and safe abortion care
  • Cost savings that would be achieved if safe abortion care was expanded
  • Number of postabortion cases that would be averted by an increase in access to safe abortion care

Who is the calculator for?

The calculator can be used by advocates, policymakers, researchers and anyone interested in better understanding the impacts of expanding access to safe abortion care across all low- and middle-income countries or in specific countries or regions.

How are the calculator’s estimates produced?

  • The Safe Abortion Calculator is based on analyses from Guttmacher's Adding It Up 2024 study, with updated cost, abortion and postabortion care data. See the calculator FAQ for further details.

  • In most cases, subregional estimates of abortions by safety category are used to represent the current level of safe abortion care in each country (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India and Nepal have country-specific data).
  • Estimates of complication rates are applied to abortion safety distributions to represent the number of people who need and access postabortion care in each country.
  • The calculator includes costs for drugs and supplies, staffing costs and indirect costs (for programs and systems) in the total estimated costs of postabortion and safe abortion care.
  • The calculator compares costs associated with postabortion and safe abortion care when users change the proportion of safe abortions in a country.
  • For more information about the analysis, methodology and data, view the calculator methodology.

View the FAQ

Thank you to our sponsor

This project was supported by Global Affairs Canada and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the donors.

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