The figure remained practically stable between 2020 and 2021. However, the number of voluntary terminations of pregnancy (IVG) is falling for women under 25 and especially for minors, according to a study by Drees published on Tuesday. .

In total, 223,300 abortions were recorded in 2021, compared to 222,000 in 2020 (a year marked by a drop in conceptions during the first confinement linked to Covid-19), and 233,000 in 2019, specifies the study carried out by the statistics department of the social ministries.

In relation to the number of women of childbearing age (between 15 and 49 years old), the rate of recourse to abortion reached 15.5 per thousand last year, practically stable compared to 2020 (15.4 per thousand). .

Decline pronounced for those under 30

Abortion “continues to decrease among the youngest women”, below 30 years old, notes the Drees.

The decline is particularly notable for women aged 18 and 19, among whom the rate of recourse fell from 21.5 per thousand in 2014 to 17.2 in 2019 then to 14.3 in 2021. For minors, aged 15 to 17 years old, the rate fell over the same period from 8.7 to 6.0 then 4.9 per thousand.

But the number of births has also fallen among young women, so much so that, among those under 30, the "abortion ratios", that is to say the relationship between the number of abortions and the number births, remained stable between 2018 and 2020.

Big differences depending on the territories

Regional disparities in this area are very marked, note the authors of the study: the rate of recourse to abortion thus reaches 11.5 per thousand in the Pays-de-la-Loire, but 22.1 in Provence- Alps-Cote d'Azur.

In the overseas departments, abortion is twice as common as in mainland France, with an average rate of 29.6 per thousand, compared to 14.9.

It was in Guadeloupe that the highest rate was recorded last year, with 47.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49.

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