Quality report: Induced abortions in the Nordic countries

Data description

Statistical presentation

The induced abortions in the Nordic countries -statistics contain data on all abortions annually performed in the Nordic countries. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) publishes the statistics every two years. The statistics are collected from the organisation responsible for abortion statistics in all Nordic countries. The statistics contain data starting from the early 1970s.

In Finland, the operation of the abortion register is based on the Act on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (668/2008) and the Act on Abortion (239/1970). Information on the bases of data collection in other Nordic countries is available on the relevant websites.

The statistic is aimed at health care practitioners, authorities, planners and researchers working with reproductive health who need up-to-date information on abortions and need to relate country-specific information to the international situation.

Relevance

The Induced abortions in the Nordic countries statistics report data for the development of services related to reproductive health. Supplementary data is available from the national statistics of each Nordic country. The data content of the statistics has been developed in collaboration with Nordic experts.

Data content of the statistics

The statistics include all legal abortions performed in the Nordic countries, which are reported by the organisation responsible for the statistics in each country.

The Finnish data contains data for Åland Islands, but the Danish data does not contain data for the Faroe Islands or Greenland. Information on abortions in the Faroe Islands and Greenland can be found in Nomesco’s Nordic databaseLink to an external websiteOpens in a new tab.

The statistics describes the number of induced abortions annually in all Nordic countries. The abortions are also presented by age group per 1,000 women of the equivalent age group.

The statistics also includes information on gestational age by weeks of pregnancy, the proportion of drug-induced abortions and the number of abortions relative to live births. The data content of the statistics has been defined so that the data can be compiled comprehensively for all Nordic countries. For this reason, the statistics do not include all variables collected in national abortion statistics.

In relating the data to the population, average population figures by age groups of five have been used. The population data are based on the figures reported by the countries to Nomesco (Nordic Medico-Statistical Committee). Nordic population statistics can be found on the Nomesco/Nososco websiteLink to an external websiteOpens in a new tab. [As of 1 Jan 2025.]

The concepts and definitions used are presented in the text of the statistical report.

Statistical processing

Source data

The latest information has been updated based on of official statistics from each country, which the contact persons of the countries have submitted to THL. The contact persons represent organisations responsible for collecting abortion data in each country:

Denmark withdrew from the Nordic statistical cooperation on the sharing of abortion and perinatal statistics in January 2025. In this report, Denmark’s data for 2020–2023 has been collected directly from the website of the Danish Health Data Authority.

Data collection

The data is collected to THL by email from the contact person in each country and collected for publication at THL. THL collects the data as statistical tables, and THL does not collect so-called row-level data, and the Nordic data collected by THL does not contain personal identification data.

Statistics in each country are collected using different methods. In Denmark, in recent years, abortion data have been collected directly through a national hospital register containing personal identity codes. In Finland, information related to abortions is collected using a separate form that also contains the identity of the person. In Norway and Sweden, individual-level data are collected on the form, but the personal identity data are not stored in the national register. In Iceland, a separate data collection form was used before 2019, but with the reformed Termination of Pregnancy Act in 2019, the Icelandic Care Register became the data source.

Data validation

Each Nordic country’s statistical institution is responsible for their own national data collection and accuracy of data. Each country’s contact person checks and approves the information to be published before it is published. The statistics were also sent to Denmark for information before the publication, even though Denmark has withdrawn from Nordic cooperation related to the statistics in 2025 and in this report, Denmark’s data for 2020–2023 has been collected directly from the website of the Danish Health Data Authority.

Data compilation

The data is not processed significantly at THL. Each country is responsible for the accuracy and processing of its numbers.

Data revision

Any errors found in the statistics will be corrected. Due to the notification delay, statistics for previous years are also updated retroactively. However, these corrections do not significantly affect the overall trend of the number of abortions.

Quality assessment of the statistics

Accuracy and reliability

The statistical organisation of each country is responsible for the accuracy of its national data and for submitting the data to THL in accordance with the definitions of data collection. The data from previous years are updated retrospectively as necessary, but changes to previous years have been found to be relatively small.

Finland’s Register of Induced Abortions is based on the notifications of data providers, and the accuracy of the information depends mainly on the information received from the informant organisations. In Finland, abortion data have been collected from all Finnish health care units in which abortions are performed. In accordance with the Act on Abortion and the decree issued under it, the health care unit in which the procedure is performed must submit a notification of the procedure to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) using a form approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health within one month of the completion of the procedure.

Timeliness and punctuality

The Induced abortions in the Nordic countries -statistics are produced by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare once every two years (odd years). The statistics are published once the national statistics of all Nordic countries are completed and published. National statistics may be available significantly earlier compared to the publishing time of the Nordic aggregated statistics. For example, Finland’s 2023 national statistics on induced abortions were published in June 2024.

Coherence and comparability

The Nordic abortion statistics can be used to estimate the number of abortions from the 1970s until today and to compare the number of abortions between the countries. The data that are collected have been defined between Nordic partners, with the aim of defining the variables uniformly.

The statistical report contains comprehensive information on abortions in the Nordic countries. The data from previous years are updated retrospectively as necessary, but changes to previous years have been found to be relatively small.

There may be minor differences in the availability of individual variables. The data content of the statistics has been updated, for example, as medical methods evolve (drug-induced abortion was only introduced in the early 2000s). There have been no significant changes in the concepts used in the statistics during the collection of the statistics.

Sweden’s data on abortions for 2013 are missing as data collection was suspended in Sweden in spring 2013. The detailed nature of the data collection and the protection of privacy were examined, and it was decided that data collection would continue at the beginning of 2014 with reformed data content.

Iceland’s data for 2019 are missing. The absence of Iceland’s data is connected to Iceland’s reformed 2019 legislation and the related reform of data collection. The data for 2019 will not be published, but from 2020 onwards, the data is reported on the basis of the reformed data collection. The data extraction rules were corrected for figures for 2020–2023. Figures published before for 2020 and 2021 may have been underreported.

In Sweden’s 2020 statistics 2.7% of abortions lack information on the person’s age, which means that the figures per age group for Sweden are slightly lower than in reality.

Institutional mandate

The induced abortions in the Nordic countries statistics are part of the statistical series of the Official Statistics of Finland (OSF), and related production of statistics complies with the statistics production practices of Eurostat statistics and OSF guidelines.

In Finland, 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 on induced abortions in the Nordic countries have been published since 1999. The statistical report is published on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). More detailed information on abortions in Finland can be found on THL’s website.

Data related to the statistics are also published as Sotkanet indicatorsLink to an external websiteOpens in a new tab.

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.

Statistics publication calendar

The statistical reports 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). The statistical organisation of each country is responsible for the use of data from said country.

Findata websiteLink to an external websiteOpens in a new tab

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 2023 statistics