The Estimation of the Number of Aborted Girls in South Korea

Countries such as China and India are well known for their preference for sons. South Korea is another country with a long-standing preference for sons, with the sex ratio at birth (SRB) reaching as high as 116.5 in some years. Given that the normal SRB ranges from 105 to 107, a higher SRB suggests that some girls were likely aborted. This study estimates the number of girls aborted in the country.

Using an SRB of 106 as normal, we first calculate the expected number of girls born (NEG) based on the actual number of newborn boys (NAB). That is, NEG = (100/106) × NAB. We then compare NEG with the actual number of newborn girls.

In 1981, 448 655 boys were born, which would imply that 423 259 girls were expected. However, since 418 754 girls were actually born that year, 4505 girls were likely aborted. In total, approximately 340 000 girls were aborted from 1981 to 2010, accounting for 3.8% of all female births.

We estimated the number of aborted girls based on the number of boys born. Since some boys were likely aborted, the number of aborted girls is likely higher than 340 000. Therefore, this figure should be considered as an estimate of abortions due to son preference.