| The figures also show a rise in the actual number of girls under the age of 16 having an abortion in Tayside, jumping from 26 in 2004 to 37 last year. In Fife the comparable figures were 31 last year, up from 20 in 2004.
Compiled by the Scottish Executive’s Information Services Division, the new statistics also show the biggest rises in abortions locally were performed on young women living in the Perth & Kinross Council area and in Fife.
Last year 106 residents of Perth & Kinross below the age of 20 had an abortion compared to 87 the previous year, while Fife recorded 230 abortions last year compared to 203 in 2004.
For the same age group in Angus, the figures were 83 last year (79 in 2004) and Dundee City 165 (167).
While the exact numbers of abortions performed on women in specific age groups are recorded, ISD also works out a rate per thousand women aged 15-44 to allow comparison between individual health board areas.
It is this figure that shows Tayside as having the highest abortion rate in Scotland with 16.4 abortions per 1000. The second highest rate is Lothian at 14.1 while the rate for the whole of Scotland is 11.9.
The Tayside rate was also higher than in 2004 when 15.2 per thousand women aged 15-44 had an abortion in Tayside.
There were 12,603 abortions in Scotland last year, a rise from 12,461 in 2004. |
