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4.8 percent more women terminated their pregnancy this year than in the same period last year
Photo: Jacek Sopotnicki / iStockphoto / Getty Images
After hitting a low last year, the number of abortions in Germany has risen again.
Around 25,800 abortions were reported in the first quarter of 2022, the Federal Statistical Office said.
That is 4.8 percent more than in the same period last year.
Previously, the number had been declining since the second quarter of 2020, hitting its lowest level in 25 years last year.
"Whether and how this development is related to the course of the corona pandemic cannot be clearly assessed on the basis of the data," said the Federal Office.
Overall, the number of abortions in 2021 was 5.4% lower than in the previous year and in 2020 0.9% lower than in 2019.
According to the information, 70 percent of the women who had an abortion in the first quarter of 2022 were between 18 and 34 years old, 19 percent between 35 and 39 years and 8 percent 40 years and older.
Three percent were younger than 18 years.
Around 41 percent of the women had not yet given birth to a child before the abortion.
At 96 percent, the vast majority of abortions were carried out according to the counseling regulation, according to which an abortion in the first twelve weeks is not punishable if the woman seeks counseling beforehand.
In the other cases, there were medical reasons or the women were victims of rape.
The interventions were mainly carried out on an outpatient basis.
kry/dpa