Induced abortions
Data description
Statistical presentation
The statistics on induced abortions contain data on all abortions annually performed in Finland. All health care units performing induced abortions are required to report the procedure to the Register on Induced Abortions at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) according to a specific data collection form (AB4 form). Providing data for the register is mandatory and based on the Act on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (668/2008) and the Act on Abortion (239/1970).
Data on the number of induced abortions is available from the year 1950 onwards. Since 1983, data on induced abortions have been kept in an electronic THL database. The data reported in this statistical report refer to the year 2024. The obligation to report the procedures to THL is continuous and the register form should be sent to THL within one month of the procedure. THL publishes the statistics once a year, during the spring following the statistical year reported.
The statistic is aimed at health care practitioners, authorities, planners and researchers working with reproductive health who need up-to-date information on abortions.
Relevance
The statistics contain data for the research, development, and organization of services related to reproductive health. Supplementary data is available from e.g. the Care Register for Health Care. The register on induced abortions is used for research and monitoring.
Data content of the statistics
The statistics include all induced abortions performed in Finland. All health care units performing induced abortions are required to report the procedure to THL.
An induced abortion is defined as a termination of pregnancy initiated by measures in which there is no indication of intrauterine fetal death before the termination. Fetal reductions are also defined as induced abortions. Other concepts and definitions used in the statistics are presented in the text part of the statistical report.
The data content of the Register on Induced Abortions is based on the so-called AB4 form confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health degree (1063/2008, which includes the new forms confirmed by amendment 624/2023 as annexes).
The statistics on induced abortions are provided by age group and by wellbeing services county per 1000 women of the same age. The statistics also present numbers and percentages of grounds for induced abortions, the gestational age at which they are performed, previous abortions and deliveries among abortion patients, methods of abortion used, and the contraceptive methods
The age of the person is the age at the time of the induced abortion. The relative numbers are mainly in proportion to women of fertile age, or between 15 and 49 years of age and to women of the same age. The average population is used for population ratios.
The data for each wellbeing services county is based on the person’s municipality of residence.
Statistical processing
Source data
The statistics is based on THL’s Register on Induced Abortions, which includes information on all induced abortions performed in Finland. The register contains the personal identity code of the person to whom the procedure is performed.
The register data is supplemented with the data from the Population Information System if information on municipality or the civil status of the person identity code missing.
Data collection
According to the legislation (Act on Induced Abortion 238/1970, Decree on Induced Abortion 359/1970), the health care unit performing the procedure is required to report the induced abortion to THL within one month using a specific data collection form approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Information on procedure is sent to THL electronically either as a patient information system extract or with a separate electronic form. Year 2024 most data were collected to THL by electronic means and occasional paper forms were saved electronically at THL. The unit preforming the procedure must always submit a separate notification to the register on induced abortions; simply making a normal entry in the patient information system in connection with the procedure is not sufficient.
Data in the 2024 statistical report are based on reports submitted to THL by 27th March 2025. THL accepts register forms also after the publication of the statistics. In these cases, the information is updated in connection with the next statistical publication.
Data submitted as database extracts are sent to THL 2-4 times a year. Notifications with the electronic form are received throughout the year.
Data validation
THL strives to check and correct the data as extensively as possible. The aim is to identify missing and incorrect data. Missing cases, missing variables and possible mistakes in the data are checked from the health care units.
The data is checked at THL against materials from the sessions of the abortion and sterilisation committee at Valvira (National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health). If Valvira has granted a permission for an induced abortion but the register form at THL is missing, is the health care unit will be asked to complete the information.
The data in the Register on Induced Abortions are compared with those in THL’s Register of Congenital Malformations on abortions for fetal indication. The Abortion Register is supplemented retrospectively based on data from the malformation register
If the information on person’s earlier births or pregnancy is unclear, the data are checked from THL’s Medical Birth Register, Population Information System and THL’s Care Register for Health Care.
Data compilation
THL has developed automatic measures for correcting and updating the materials and electronic reports that can be used to identify errors. The material is corrected automatically based on information such as persons’ previous induced abortions and births and other information on each induced abortion in question. Missing data on municipality, civil status and information on previous births are supplemented partly automatically and partly on a case-by-case basis from on the Population Information System. Corrections are made on a case-by-case basis when reliable automatic reasoning is not possible.
Some data cannot be corrected based on data available to THL, and in these cases, corrections are requested from the health care units. The corrections from the health care units are asked by encrypted secure email.
Data revision
Data from previous statistical years is updated retroactively, if necessary, in connection with the next statistical publication. The impact of retrospective corrections on the figures has been mainly seen to be minor. For example, the 2023 data published earlier was corrected when publishing the data for 2024 and the number of induced abortions grew by approximately 100 cases (approximately 1.1 %).
In spring 2024, slightly larger than normal corrections were made to the data for 2020–2022, and the number of abortions in the register increased more than normal: in connection with the checks, it was noted that a few of the units performing procedures had systematically failed to submit registration notifications, and these notifications were updated in the register retrospectively.
Quality assessment of the statistics
Accuracy and reliability
The Register on Induced Abortions is based on the information the health care units send to THL and the correctness of data depends on the quality of the data submitted to THL.
In unclear cases, the data in the Register of Induced Abortions are compared with those in other registers (Medical Birth Register and Care Register for Health Care). If necessary, the health care unit that has performed the procedure is contacted in order to ascertain the data. In addition, the data on abortions for fetal indication are compared to data recorded at Valvira and in the Register of Congenital Malformations.
If it is suspected that a pregnancy termination has not been reported to the registry, THL will attempt to cross-reference it from the health care unit if the Care Register for Health Care contain information about a potentially missing notification on pregnancy termination. These comparisons and cross-references are, however, neither systematic nor comprehensive. There are also inaccuracies in the diagnosis and procedure entries in the Care Register for Health Care, and it is not possible to directly supplement the Register on Induced Abortion based on this information.
Any errors identified in the statistics will be corrected. Even earlier statistics are updated in case of delays in reporting. These revisions do not usually, however, have any significant impact on the overall trend in the number of induced abortions.
In spring 2024, slightly larger than normal corrections were made to the data for 2020–2022, and the number of abortions in the register increased more than normal: in connection with the checks, it was noted that a few of the units performing procedures had systematically failed to submit registration notifications, and these notifications were updated in the register retrospectively. Compared to previously published figures, the number of abortions in 2020 increased by 0.1% and in 2021 and 2022 by 1.3%.
The validation study with 2011 data showed that the coverage of the Register on Induced Abortions is excellent: 97.0 per cent of performed induced abortions was found in the register1.
The detailed data content of the register and variable-specific quality observations are available in the Data resources catalogue.
1 Heino A, Niinimäki M, Mentula M, Gissler M. How reliable are health registers? Registration of induced abortions and sterilizations in Finland.
Timeliness and punctuality
The statistics on induced abortions are produced by THL annually. The report, published once a year in the spring, describes the number of induced abortions in the previous year.
Coherence and comparability
The first act on induced abortion took effect on 1 July 1950. Statistics on induced abortions have been published since 1951. The current Act on Induced Abortion is from 1970. In 1985, the Act amending the Act on Induced Abortion (572/1985) introduced a Section 5a to the Act, allowing induced abortion on the grounds of potential or confirmed foetal defect before the 24th week of gestation (≤ 24+0)2.
The updated Act on Induced Abortion entered into force on 1 September 2023. As of 1 September 2023, the ground for abortion is always the pregnant person’s request if the gestation has lasted 12+0 weeks or less. The pregnant person does not need to justify their request in any way.
When the gestation has lasted for more than 12+0 weeks, usually only the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) can make the decision to allow induced abortion (unless it is based on a health hazard, Section 1, Subsection 2 of the Act, or emergency abortion).
An updated registration notification form (AB4) was also introduced on 1 September 2023. According to the amendment, new grounds for abortion were added to the register (the pregnant person’s own request), “one physician” was removed from the decision-maker options, as the act no longer recognises induced abortions made by decision of one physician. Some smaller terminological changes were also made.
Since 1983, data on induced abortions have been kept in an electronic THL database. Official statistical publications by the National Board of Health (one of THL’s predecessors) have been used as a source of information for earlier years. Data on the number of induced abortions is available as of 1950, and data from 1955 include information such as the grounds for abortion. As of 1958, there is even more data available, including the patient’s marital status, age, number of births and the number of procedures performed in each province. Time series on almost all variables recorded today are available from the mid-1970s onward.
Data for earlier years have been checked, for instance, by removing data that had been entered twice and by adding missing cases, so some data may deviate from previously published statistics. As a result, data may deviate from previously published statistics.
With regard to age-specific data, it should be noted that from 1994 onwards such data in the register refer to the age of the patient on the day of the procedure, whereas the data for preceding years refer to the age at the end of the year. The data for 1986–1993 have been calculated retrospectively using the patient's age on the day of the procedure from the data from the care register.
In the data collection form for the register, for some of the variables (e.g. contraceptive method, method of induced abortion, indication) it is possible to select more than one alternative. This should be taken into account when examining the tables.
The concepts and definitions of induced abortion have remained unchanged throughout this time. The statistics apply the ICD-10 classification system.
2 Act on Induced Abortion (239/1970) (in Finnish).
Institutional mandate
The production of the statistics on induced abortions is based on the Act on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (688/2008) and the Act on Abortion (239/1970). One of the official tasks of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is to produce statistical data on the health and welfare of the population, the factors affecting them, and the use and functioning of healthcare and social welfare services to support decision-making, development and research. THL’s statistical production practices are guided by the instructions, recommendations and regulations of Eurostat and the Official Statistics of Finland as well as the principles of statistical ethics.
Data sharing and publishing
The statistics are published on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). THL publishes the data at the time indicated in advance in the statistics publication calendar. The data is made public to all users at the same time.
Data related to the statistics are also published as Sotkanet indicators.
The release of the statistics report on the THL website is also accompanied by database reports on induced abortions. Database reports, or summaries and data cubes, enable users to make their own selections and retrieve information from register data.
Statistical data is annually published also in international statistical publications (NOMESCO, WHO, UN).
The statistics published by THL are public. However, the register data is confidential. The Finnish Social and Health Data Permit Authority Findata grants permits for using the data in the Finnish register on induced abortions based on the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data (552/2019).
Confidentiality
As an authority, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare has the obligation to produce compiled data on the health and well-being concerned with the entire country. The data used to draw up THL’s statistics is primarily confidential, and personal data may not be published. The protection of processed data is based on the Act on the National Institute for Health and Welfare (688/2008), the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018) as well as other regulation guiding the activities of the Institute.
THL’s datasets are secured at all stages of processing. Data and information systems can only be accessed by persons who have a permit to access certain data for clearly defined purposes. Others do not have the ability to view, process, change or delete data. Written instructions have been drawn up to ensure the data protection of completed statistics. All THL personnel are bound by a confidentiality obligation.
The privacy notice of the register can be viewed online at thl.fi.
Special issues concerning the 2024 statistics
The updated Act on Induced Abortion entered into force on 1 September 2023. An updated registration notification form (AB4) was also introduced at the same time. According to the amendment, new grounds for abortion were added to the register (the pregnant person’s own request), “one physician” was removed from the decision-maker options, as the act no longer recognises induced abortions made by decision of one physician. Some smaller terminological changes were also made.
