Number of abortions continued to fall in 2020
Fewer abortions were carried out in Estonia last year, continuing a long-term trend, statistics from the National Institute for Health Development (Tervise Arengu Instituut) show.
In 2020, a total of 3,478 pregnancies were terminated in Estonia, of which 3,277 were terminated on request and 201 due to medical reasons. The majority were in Harju, Tartu and Ida-Viru counties which are the three most populated counties.
There were 303 fewer abortions than in 2019. The number of abortions terminated on request has been falling since 1996, data from the TAI shows. In 1996, there were 16,260 abortions carried out.
There were also 201 miscarriages.
"Of the miscarriages, only those in which the woman goes to a health care institution are reflected in the registry data. Some pregnancies are terminated at an early stage, when the woman may not yet be aware of the pregnancy," said Kärt Allvee, head of the pregnancy information system.
Women in the 30-34 year age group had the highest number of reported miscarriages. Over the last five years, the 25-29 year age group has seen the biggest fall from 1,157 in 2015 to 732 in 2020.
Repeated abortions accounted for 48.6 percent of all abortions in 2020.
In 2020, in total, 13,073 children were born. The number of live births was 13,043.
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Editor: Helen Wright