Spain recorded a total of 103,097 voluntary terminations of pregnancy (IVE) in 2023, or 4,781 more than in 2022, when 98,316 IVEs were then registered. This is an increase of 4.8% in one year and 8.7% compared to 2014, when 94,796 voluntary abortions were recorded.
This is reflected in the National Register of Voluntary Terminations of Pregnancy, published this Saturday by the Ministry of Health. The data shows that The IVI rate in Spain reached 12.22 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 last year. These figures are close to the historic highs recorded in 2011 (12:47 p.m.).
This figure exceeds both the rate of 11.68 recorded in 2022 and that of 10.46 in 2014, indicating an increase in the incidence of this procedure in recent years.
Regarding the type of center, 81.45% of IVEs were carried out in private centersaccording to statistics collected by Europe Press and which were released by the department headed by Mónica García coinciding with World Safe Abortion Day.
Through the autonomous communities, Catalonia has the highest IVI rate, with 14.92 per 1,000 women. follows closely the Community of Madrid, with a rate of 13.92. On the other hand, Aragon records the lowest rate, with 8.4 per 1,000 women.
Increase among those under 19
The incidence rate has increased in all age groups, especially among those aged 19 and under. By age, in 2023, there were registered 10,934 IVE in children under 20 years old, which represents an increase of 4.78% compared to 2022.
93.94% of IVVs were performed at the woman’s request. 75.19% of IVEs were carried out during gestations of 8 weeks or less and 66.99% of women had never had a voluntary abortion.
Regarding lifestyle, 30.69% of women lived as a couple. 58.01% were salaried workers and 65.52% were Spanish nationals.
Concerning the level of education, the percentage of women with a baccalaureate or similar professional training and having completed university studies has increased slightly.
69.77% of interventions were carried out using the surgical method, although pharmacology is already in the majority in some communities such as Cantabria (96.50%), Navarra (76%), Balearic Islands (74%), La Rioja (68%), Galicia (59.6%) and Catalonia (55.74%). %).
Furthermore, the report specifies that 46.50% of women did not use any contraceptive method.
Notification centers
The number of centers having notified the IVE amounts to 230, compared to 222 in 2022. Hospital centers declared 16,845 IVEs: 8,201 in public and 8,644 in private. In total, 86,252 occurred in non-hospital centers: 10,924 in public and 75,328 in private.
In total, 98,850 voluntary terminations of pregnancies took place at the woman’s request; due to a serious risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman3,294; due to risk of serious abnormalities in the fetus, 2,688; and due to fetal anomalies incompatible with life or an extremely serious and incurable illness, a total of 263.
Thus, the Ministry of Health emphasizes the importance of “continue working on sexual and reproductive educationas well as access to contraceptive methods, to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
