Lowest abortion rate in Nordic region

Thirty-two induced abortions were registered in the Faroes last year, compared to an annual average of 25 over the past eight years, reports Statistics Faroe Islands.

Last year’s figure is at about the same level as a decade ago, though far lower than the period from the 1980s to 2004 – and still by far the lowest in the Nordic region.

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Caption: 

Number of induced abortions per 1,000 live births in the Nordic countries. Note: Faroese and Norwegian figures are from 2021. Figures from the other countries are from 2018-2019. Graph: Statistics Faroe Islands

Although the low numbers can lead to significant fluctuation from one year to another, the trend clearly shows a steady decline. This also applies to the number of abortions relative to the number of live births.

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In the latter half of the 1990s, there was an average of 50 abortions per year. At the turn of the century, this figure came down to 40-45.

By the first half of the 2010s, it had reached 30, and since 2015, the average number has been about 25.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.