25% of pregnancies end in termination

A report in the Lancet, a UK medical journal, said 56m induced abortions take place annually – a higher number than previously thought.

Scientists say the annual number of abortions worldwide increased from 50 million a year between 1990-1994 to 56 million a year between 2010-2014.

The rise in numbers is mostly seen in the developing world, partly driven by population growth and by a desire for smaller families.

Their calculations show that while the number of abortions per person has had no change in poorer areas in the past 15 years, in richer areas it fell from 25 to 14 per 1,000 women of reproductive age.

Researchers point out that abortion rates were similar across countries - regardless of the procedure’s legal status.

They argue that laws banning abortions do not limit the number of terminations and can instead lead people to seek illegal abortions that can be unsafe.

Thus, experts are calling for new approaches to contraceptive services.

Researchers suggest the possibility that some are not aware of the contraceptive services available or come from countries where abortion rates are higher in general.

Dr Bela Ganatra, from the WHO, said: "The high rates of abortion seen in our study provide further evidence of the need to improve and expand access to effective contraceptive services.

"Investing in modern contraceptive methods would be far less costly to women and to society than having unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions."

But the study suggests the solution is not as simple as improving access to contraceptives as many women are said to choose not to use contraceptives because of side effects, stigmatisation or the thought that there was a low risk of pregnancy.