The number of women missing in a country can be measured in two ways – as either absolute numbers or as a percentage of the female population. In absolute terms, the world’s two most populous countries have the greatest number of missing women – 72 million missing in China and 46 million missing in India, as of 2020.17

When we look at percentages, it is evident that China, with 10.3 percent of its women missing, has eliminated a higher percentage of females than any other country in the world.  India follows, with 6.8 percent missing.18.

These numbers reflect historical practices over many decades as well as current practices.  To discern current practices, demographers look at a country’s sex ratio at birth (SRB), which shows sex-selective practices for the most recent year.  The SRB is measured as #male births/100 female births.  A normal SRB is 105-106 male births per 100 female births.  This 5-6% excess in male births is completely normal and natural, as nature gives us more boys than girls at birth.  (This is probably an evolutionary adaptation that compensates for the fact that little boys were more likely to die from childhood diseases than little girls — before the advent of modern medicine.) An SRB higher than 106 is considered abnormal and indicates that sex-selective abortion is occurring.

A comparison of 2020 SRBs in the most gendercide-affected countries reveals that sex-selective abortion of females is highest in  Azerbaijan (SRB 114).  China follows (SRB 111.9), then India  (111.6), and Vietnam (111.5).19  

These SRBs indicate that China’s SRB has dropped relative to a peak value of 121.2 in 2004, but it is still a long way from normal.  The same is true for India.