A new study,  'The incidence of abortion in Nigeria', has revealed an increase in abortion rate in the country from 61, 000 in 1996 to an estimated 1.25 millions in 2012 due not only to greater  population size,  but also to an apparent rise in the abortion rate.

The research, conducted by Guttmacher Institute and the University of Ibadan,  also shows that in spite of Nigeria’s highly restrictive abortion law, the estimated abortion rate was 33 abortions 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 recent investigation avers that the most prudent conclusion may be that the abortion rate has increased slightly, as the two rates were calculated using different approaches.