The number of abortions reached a record high in Scotland last year, with figures showing a small rise in the number of pregnancies terminated.
There were 18,783 terminations carried out over the course of 2025 – with this total up from 18,717 the previous year.
However, the number of abortions that were carried out was 55% higher than it was in 2016, when the total was 12,135.
Data from Public Health Scotland showed that, in 2025, there were 17.6 abortions for every 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44 – with this rate the same as the previous year.
NHS Lanarkshire had the highest termination rate, with 21.1 abortions carried out for every 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44.
That comes after the number of pregnancies terminated in the health board area increased by 86% over the last 10 years, to 2,650 in 2025, up from 1,426 in 2016.
Dundee City was once again the council area with the highest termination rates, with 22.8 abortions carried out for every 1,000 women between 15 and 44 – though this was down from 24.5 in 2024.
Just 105 girls under the age of 16 had an abortion last year, with 2,036 teenagers aged between 16 and 19 also choosing to end a pregnancy.
The age group where abortions were most common was amongst those aged 20 to 24, with 4,888 terminations in 2025, although 25 to 29-year-olds underwent 4,697 such procedures.
The number of older women undergoing abortions also increased, with 2,502 carried out on women aged 35 to 39 and 909 on women aged 40 and older. Both of these were the highest totals on record for these age groups.
Meanwhile, the figures showed the termination rate in Scotland’s most deprived areas was almost double that of the most affluent communities.
In these least deprived areas, there were 12 terminations carried out per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44 in 2025, compared to a rate of 23.7 in the poorest parts of the country.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd said: “It is right that women are able to access abortion services in a timely, safe and equitable manner, and access the care they need.
“The Scottish Government set out a range of actions to improve abortion services within the women’s health plan and is carrying out significant work with NHS boards and stakeholders to deliver on that.”