Terminations Of Pregnancy Rates Rise To Record Levels In Scotland

4th June 2023

Termination of pregnancy statistics - year ending December 2022.

The termination rate in Scotland between 2021 and 2022 rose by almost a fifth (19%). This up-tick was evident in the four age groups between 16 and 34 years. The increased rate of terminations in 2022 for those aged 16 to 19 years follows a fourteen year period of falling rates in this age group.

Termination rates increased steeply between 2021 and 2022 regardless of level of deprivation. This increase was less pronounced for women living in the least deprived areas.
Socioeconomic inequality widened in the last ten years in Scotland: termination rates for those living in the most deprived areas are now more than double that of those living in the least deprived areas.
The rate for women self-reporting one or more previous terminations also increased rapidly between 2021 and 2022. This increased multiple termination rate was more marked for women living in less deprived areas compared to those in more deprived areas, as measured by the gap between most and least deprived. Despite this, socioeconomic inequalities in multiple termination rates widened: women in the most deprived areas were almost three times more likely to self-report a previous termination than those living in the least deprived areas.

Inequalities were also evident in multiple termination rates by ethnicity: 67% of black and Caribbean women self-reported a previous termination compared to 42% of white women.

Variation existed across NHS Boards in the proportion of terminations at less than nine weeks' gestation: from 86% in the Islands to 64% in NHS Fife. Women living in more deprived areas and remote rural areas were less likely to have an early termination compared to women in less deprived areas and in accessible rural and urban areas.

An abortion can be induced (therapeutic) or spontaneous (miscarriage). This report focuses only on induced abortions. We also refer to these as terminations of pregnancy to avoid confusion with spontaneous abortions. Termination surveillance data are completed by staff in all NHS Boards on the ToPSS system. Notifications of abortion are submitted separately by the service providers to the Chief Medical Officer (Scotland).

Termination rates increased steeply between 2021 and 2022 regardless of level ofdeprivation. This increase was less pronounced for women living in the least deprived
areas.

• Socioeconomic inequality widened in the last ten years in Scotland: termination rates for those living in the most deprived areas are now more than double that of those living in the
least deprived areas.

• The rate for women self-reporting one or more previous terminations also increased rapidly between 2021 and 2022. This increased multiple termination rate was more marked for women living in less deprived areas compared to those in more deprived areas, as measured by the gap between most and least deprived. Despite this, socioeconomic inequalities in multiple termination rates widened: women in the most deprived areas were almost three times more likely to self-report a previous termination than those living in the least deprived areas.

• Inequalities were also evident in multiple termination rates by ethnicity: 67% of black and Caribbean women self-reported a previous termination compared to 42% of white women.

• Variation existed across NHS Boards in the proportion of terminations at less than nine weeks' gestation: from 86% in the Islands to 64% in NHS Fife. Women living in more deprived areas and remote rural areas were less likely to have an early termination
compared to women in less deprived areas and in accessible rural and urban areas.

Read the full report HERE
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Read a summary report HERE
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