Induced abortion in Norway – fact sheet
Article
|Updated
|The abortion rate has remained historically low for several years, but began to rise in 2022. Eight out of ten abortions are performed before the 9th week and nine out of ten abortions are performed with medication.
2023
12,814 pregnancy terminations were performed in Norway in 2023. This is a 6.7 per cent increase from 2022. The rate is rising for all age groups; from 9.9 per 1,000 women (aged 15-49) in 2022 to 10.4 in 2023. Of all terminations, 95.2 per cent were abortions on demand and 83.7 per cent were performed before the 9th week.
The number of abortions among women under 25 is rising.
The number of terminations among teenagers (15-19 years) has started to rise from a historic low of 4.4 per 1,000 women in 2020 to 5.9 in 2023.
| Age groups |
15-19 years |
20-24 years |
25-29 years |
30-34 years |
35-39 years |
40-44 years |
45-49 years |
15-49 years |
|
2021 |
4.6 |
13.3 |
15.3 |
14.2 |
10.6 |
4.0 |
0.3 |
9.0 |
|
2022 |
5.5 |
14.5 |
16.5 |
15.5 |
11.4 |
4.6 |
0.4 |
9.9 |
|
2023 |
5.9 |
15.9 |
17.9 |
15.6 |
11.8 |
4.4 |
0.4 |
10.4 |
|
Source: Registry of Pregnancy Termination |
||||||||
Terminations in the 20-29 age group
Until 2015, the abortion rate was highest for women in their early 20s, but since then the 25-29 year age group has had the highest abortion rate. The 25-29 year age group had a rate of 17.9 compared to 15.9 among those aged 20-24 in 2023.
When we look at both data from the Registry of Pregnancy Termination and the Medical Birth Registry, we see that the trend of declining abortion figures and simultaneously falling number of births has now reversed. While the number of abortions has started to rise, the number of births is still falling (Figures 1 and 2)
Regional variation
There is great regional variation in the abortion rate in Norway. Finnmark, Troms and Oslo are the counties with most terminations per 1,000 women; 16.1 in Finnmark, 12.8 in Troms and 12.6 in Oslo. Of the large university cities, Tromsø has the highest abortion rate of 12.7 per 1,000 women. Rogaland, Møre og Romsdal and Telemark had the lowest rates, with 7.8 per 1,000 women in Rogaland, 8.4 in Møre og Romsdal and 8.6 in Telemark (Table 2).
Use of medical methods has stabilised
Since 2008, most abortions on demand have been medical. There has been a gradual increase since the method was introduced in 1998. In 2023, 94.4 per cent of abortions on demand were medical.
Most pregnancy terminations occur during the first 8 weeks, and more than half occur outside hospital
Most pregnancy terminations are performed early in pregnancy. 83.7 per cent of all abortions on demand in 2023 were performed before the 9th week. Up to week 10, a pregnancy can be terminated outside hospital, often called a home abortion. Helse Nord have data about how many abortions are terminated as home abortions. In 2023, 56.3 per cent of all abortions up to week 10 were completed outside hospital, with a variation of 8.7-77.6 per cent depending on the hospital offering the treatment. 95.2 per cent of all abortions were on demand.
Committee-handled terminations after week 12
If a woman is more than 12 weeks pregnant, the request for a termination of pregnancy must be handled by a committee. The cases that are rejected by the primary committee are automatically forwarded to the appeals committee held at Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål.
In 2023, there were 610 committee-handled terminations, which is 4.7 per cent of all terminations, and 607 of these were granted in the primary tribunal. The proportion of terminations processed by the committee in relation to abortion on demand remains stable. Most terminations processed by the tribunal were granted due to the risk of congenital abnormalities.
About the abortion statistics
The registry contains data from 1979 until today. Prior to 2006, Statistics Norway was responsible for the abortion statistics and since then, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has been responsible for operation of the registry and for the statistics.
Preventive measures and hormonal contraception
The government has a goal to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Several measures have been put in place to reduce the number of abortions. The measures primarily involve increasing knowledge about the body and sexuality and better access to services that are necessary for a good and safe sex life. These include information about the body, sexuality, easy access to contraception, non-prescription emergency contraception, and the right for public health nurses and midwives to prescribe hormonal contraception to teenagers. Other measures include free condoms, a free information telephone service about sexual health, strengthening of the student health services and the establishment of health centres for adolescents.
It has been assumed that one of the other reasons for the large drop in terminations among young people is the availability of subsidised contraception and the fact that they continue their contraceptive behaviour into adulthood. Several studies show that the use of long-acting contraception such as the contraceptive implants and intra-uterine devices has an effect on the number of abortions. When the Association of Pharmacists warns that the use of hormonal contraception has decreased among those under 30, the number of abortions rises.
Internationally
Norway, Finland (from 2023) and Denmark have abortion on demand up to and including 12 weeks. Sweden has abortion on demand up to 18 weeks and Iceland has abortion on demand up to 22 weeks. Finland has the lowest figures and the highest proportion of medical abortions. The Nordic countries are at approximately the same level as other Western European countries for the number of abortions per 1,000 women. Russia and some other Eastern European countries have a significantly higher number of abortions per 1,000 births than countries in Western and Southern Europe.
According to the WHO's latest report on safe and unsafe abortions, it was estimated that approximately 43.8 million abortions were performed in 2008, and that 21.6 million were unsafe. Almost all unsafe terminations take place in developing countries and in countries where termination of pregnancy is not readily available, either due to restrictive legislation or poorly developed healthcare. The regions with the highest rates are Latin America and Africa, with 32 and 29 per 1,000 women of child-bearing age, respectively. Globally, approximately one in five pregnancies ends in a termination.
- Safe and unsafe induced abortion. Global and regional levels in 2008, and trends during 1995–2008. (WHO)
- Induced abortion in the Nordic countries (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)
- Sedgh G, et al. Abortion incidence between 1990 and 2014: global, regional, and subregional levels and trends. Lancet