Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Abortion rate rises slightly in Switzerland

Surgical tools
Four-fifths of abortions last year involved medication, the rest were surgical. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

The number of abortions in Switzerland increased slightly last year from 11,053 to 11,341, bringing the rate to 6.9 abortions per 1,000 women. It has been rising again since 2017 following a drop after 2010.

Nevertheless, the abortion rate in Switzerland remains low in international comparison, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) saidExternal link on Tuesday. Between 2020 and 2022 it reached a similar level as ten years ago. In 2021 the FSO registered a rate of 6.7 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44.

More

Some 95% of abortions occurred before the 12th week of pregnancy and 76% in the first eight weeks of pregnancy. Four-fifths involved medication, the rest were surgical. The FSO counted 11,133 abortions among women living in Switzerland, which corresponds to a rate of 5.8 per 1,000.

For adolescents aged 15-19 living in Switzerland, there was a slight decrease with a value of 3.4 per 1,000. A total of 714 teenage pregnancies were terminated. The proportion of women under 16 fell from 0.8% to 0.5%.

There were 132 abortions per 1,000 live births, up from 121 the previous year.

Coming soon Lost Cells A podcast uncovering the human stories behind private stem cell banking's promises and failures. Get notified

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

View of the Swiss city of Zug.

More

Swiss multinational SGS to move HQ from Geneva to Zug

This content was published on The Swiss multinational SGS, the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company, plans to move its headquarters from Geneva to canton Zug in central Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss multinational SGS to move HQ from Geneva to Zug
Swiss Solidarity collects 34.4 million in 2024

More

Swiss Solidarity charity collected CHF34 million in 2024

This content was published on Swiss Solidarity, the humanitarian arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), raised CHF34.4 million ($37.7 million) in donations in 2024 and spent CHF63 million on humanitarian projects.

Read more: Swiss Solidarity charity collected CHF34 million in 2024

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR