Fast facts about adoption agency statistics
Adoption agency statistics look different depending on the lens, but the numbers in this dataset point to one clear theme: adoption is shaped by geography, timing, and process complexity, not just demand.
Table of contents
- At a glance
- Intercountry adoption volume
- Country breakdown
- Completion time and cost
- Domestic foster-care adoption context
- What the numbers suggest
At a glance
Big number: FY 2022 intercountry adoption cases totaled 1,517 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
Process split: 1,291 incoming adoptions were finalized abroad, while 226 incoming adoptions were still to be finalized in the United States (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
Outgoing cases: FY 2022 outgoing, or emigrating, adoption cases totaled 25 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
Domestic context: NCFA reported 53,579 foster-care adoptions in 2022 and 70,418 children waiting to be adopted in foster care in 2024 (NCFA Adoption Statistics).
System scale: ACF reported 53,700 foster-care adoptions in FY 2022, 108,900 children waiting to be adopted, and 368,500 children in foster care at the end of FY 2022 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
Why it matters: Adoption agency statistics are not just counts of placements. They also expose where cases are concentrated, how long processes take, and what kinds of financial burdens families face.
Intercountry adoption volume
The strongest pattern in the intercountry data is volume concentration. A relatively small number of countries account for a large share of incoming adoptions in FY 2022, while the overall system still shows multiple pathways and timing differences (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
The dataset shows 1,517 total intercountry adoption cases in FY 2022, with 1,291 finalized abroad and 226 finalized in the United States (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). That split matters because it shows that a successful placement can still involve a finalization step after arrival.
Key breakdown
- Incoming adoptions finalized abroad: 1,291 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
- Incoming adoptions to be finalized in the United States: 226 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
- Outgoing adoption cases: 25 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
At a glance, the incoming side of the process dominates the data, while outgoing cases remain comparatively small (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). That does not mean the process is simple. It means the system is active, but highly concentrated in certain origin countries and adoption pathways.
Country breakdown
Country-level adoption agency statistics show where incoming adoptions were most heavily concentrated in FY 2022. The top countries in this dataset account for a large share of the activity that agencies and families were navigating (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
| Country | FY 2022 incoming adoptions | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Colombia | 235 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| India | 223 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Republic of Korea | 141 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Ukraine | 82 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Bulgaria | 84 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Haiti | 79 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Taiwan | 68 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Philippines | 67 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Thailand | 49 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Nigeria | 44 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
Colombia and India were the two largest origin countries in this dataset, with 235 and 223 incoming adoptions respectively (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). That is a close race at the top, and it suggests the intercountry pipeline was heavily centered around those two countries in FY 2022.
Republic of Korea followed with 141 incoming adoptions, while Ukraine and Bulgaria each contributed meaningful volume at 82 and 84 respectively (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). Haiti also stood out at 79, with Taiwan and the Philippines close behind at 68 and 67 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
Additional origin-country counts
The rest of the dataset shows a long tail of smaller but still relevant origin-country totals:
- Burundi: 26 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Brazil: 21 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Ghana: 18 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Vietnam: 18 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- South Africa: 16 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Costa Rica: 13 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Hong Kong S.A.R.: 13 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Latvia: 12 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Mexico: 9 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Dominican Republic: 8 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
And several countries appear with very small counts, which still matter because they show the breadth of the adoption system:
- Serbia: 5 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Albania: 2 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Belarus: 1 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Belize: 4 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Canada: 3 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Ecuador: 4 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- El Salvador: 1 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Georgia: 1 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Hungary: 18 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Kyrgyzstan: 6 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Poland: 3 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
- Sierra Leone: 15 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption)
That spread is useful because adoption agency statistics often get reduced to a single national figure. In reality, the pipeline is country-specific, with volume distributed unevenly across origin countries and legal frameworks.
Completion time and cost
The dataset also captures two practical measures that families and agencies care about immediately: time to completion and median adoption fees.
Convention adoption timing
Among convention adoptions in FY 2022, average days to completion ranged from 521 days in Bulgaria to 1,099 days in Haiti (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
| Country | Average days to completion | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 521 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| South Africa | 607 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| India | 705 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Philippines | 775 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Thailand | 801 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Haiti | 1,099 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
Bulgaria’s 521-day average is the shortest in this timing set, followed by South Africa at 607 days (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). India’s average of 705 days sits in the middle, while the Philippines and Thailand were longer at 775 and 801 days respectively (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
Haiti’s 1,099 days is the standout on the high end (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). Put differently, the difference between the shortest and longest averages in this dataset is 578 days, or well over a year and a half. That is the kind of spread that changes how families plan, how agencies set expectations, and how long a file may stay active.
Median ASP adoption fees
Adoption fees also vary sharply by origin country in this dataset. The reported median ASP adoption fees range from $19,064 in Canada to $50,215 in Albania (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
| Country | Median ASP adoption fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | $19,064 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| India | $36,122 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Bulgaria | $37,875 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Colombia | $41,432 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Costa Rica | $48,030 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Haiti | $48,279 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
| Albania | $50,215 | FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption |
Canada’s $19,064 median ASP fee is the lowest in the fee set, while Albania’s $50,215 is the highest (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption). Haiti and Costa Rica are close behind Albania at $48,279 and $48,030, which shows how quickly costs can rise depending on the program and country involved.
Why time and cost belong together
These two measures should be read side by side. A country can have a lower completion time but still relatively high fees, or a longer completion time with different cost dynamics (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
For readers comparing adoption agency statistics, the important insight is not that one country is simply “better” than another. It is that time and fee structures are not interchangeable, and both shape the practical burden on adoptive families.
Domestic foster-care adoption context
Intercountry adoption is only one piece of the adoption landscape. Domestic foster-care data gives a broader sense of demand, placement volume, and the number of children still waiting for permanent families.
NCFA reported 53,579 foster-care adoptions in 2022 (NCFA Adoption Statistics). In 2024, NCFA also reported 70,418 children waiting to be adopted in foster care, 15,379 youth aging out of foster care without a permanent family, and 64,124 children in foster care for 2+ years before exiting (NCFA Adoption Statistics).
ACF’s March 2024 AFCARS release adds another snapshot. It reported 53,700 foster-care adoptions in FY 2022, 108,900 children waiting to be adopted in FY 2022, 368,500 children in foster care at the end of FY 2022, and 201,400 children exiting foster care in FY 2022 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
Foster-care data at a glance
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Foster-care adoptions in 2022 | 53,579 | NCFA Adoption Statistics |
| Children waiting to be adopted in foster care in 2024 | 70,418 | NCFA Adoption Statistics |
| Youth aging out without a permanent family in 2024 | 15,379 | NCFA Adoption Statistics |
| Children in foster care for 2+ years before exiting in 2024 | 64,124 | NCFA Adoption Statistics |
| Foster-care adoptions in FY 2022 | 53,700 | ACF March 2024 AFCARS release |
| Children waiting to be adopted in FY 2022 | 108,900 | ACF March 2024 AFCARS release |
| Children in foster care at end of FY 2022 | 368,500 | ACF March 2024 AFCARS release |
| Children exiting foster care in FY 2022 | 201,400 | ACF March 2024 AFCARS release |
The similarity between NCFA’s 53,579 and ACF’s 53,700 foster-care adoption counts is notable, even though the figures come from different reporting frames (NCFA Adoption Statistics; ACF March 2024 AFCARS release). The waiting-child totals are very different because they reflect different years and reporting contexts, but both still signal a large pool of children needing permanent placement.
Recent ACF trend signals
ACF also reported year-over-year declines in several foster-care measures:
- Foster-care children decreased by nearly 6% versus FY 2021 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- Foster-care children decreased by nearly 4% versus FY 2020 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- FY 2022 foster-care adoptions were 53,700, down from 54,200 in FY 2021 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- Children waiting to be adopted were 108,900, down from 113,800 in FY 2021 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- Children in foster care were 368,500, down from 392,000 in FY 2021 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- Children exiting foster care were 201,400, down from 214,500 in FY 2021 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- Parental rights had been terminated for 64,600 children in FY 2022, down from 65,000 in FY 2021 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
These decreases do not erase the scale of the system. They do show that adoption agency statistics are connected to a broader foster-care pipeline that shifts over time, with waiting counts, exits, and adoption outcomes all moving together.
What the numbers suggest
Adoption agency statistics become more useful when you stop treating them as a single annual headline and start reading them as a layered dataset.
A few patterns stand out from the supplied figures:
- Intercountry adoption is concentrated. Colombia, India, and the Republic of Korea account for a large share of incoming adoptions in FY 2022 (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
- Process time varies dramatically. Average days to completion range from 521 to 1,099 days in the convention-adoption subset (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
- Costs are not uniform. Median ASP fees range from $19,064 to $50,215 across the country examples in this dataset (FY 2022 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption).
- Domestic foster-care adoption remains large. Both NCFA and ACF place annual foster-care adoptions around 53,500 to 53,700 (NCFA Adoption Statistics; ACF March 2024 AFCARS release).
- Waiting remains the central pressure point. ACF reported 108,900 children waiting to be adopted in FY 2022, and NCFA reported 70,418 children waiting in 2024 (ACF March 2024 AFCARS release; NCFA Adoption Statistics).
For anyone researching adoption agency statistics, the practical takeaway is simple: the headline count matters, but the real story is in the distribution of cases, the length of time to completion, and the cost differences that families experience country by country.