Abortion statistics of Bulgaria

Abortion legislation

Legislation timeline

1956: Abortion is allowed
1990: Decree No. 2 (01 February)

Source: http://www.ippfen.org/ ; www.safesex.bg

Abortion conditions

Ground	Gestational limit
To save a woman’s life	No limit
Because of foetal impairment	No limit
To preserve a woman’s mental health
To preserve a woman’s physical health
For economic and social reasons
On request	12 weeks from LMP

Source: http://www.ippfen.org/

Legal conditions

Pre-abortion consultation (legal counselling) + pre-abortion laboratory tests if history of at least 1 listed disease
Contraception to be evoked during the pre-abortion consultation.

Specific conditions for minors

Specific legal counselling
Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors under 18.

Source:

IPPF European Network – http://www.ippfen.org/

Practical conditions

Medical abortion conditions

Place	Prescription	1^st drug taken	2^nd drug taken
OB/GYN department of a hospital/clinic
Another physician office
Midwife office
Abortion centre/clinic
At home

Source:

Medical abortion not applicable in Bulgaria.

Mandatory pre-abortion examinations

Blood group and rhesus factor
Urinalysis

Involved healthcare professionals

Surgical abortion: obstetrician/gynaecologist (OB/GYN)
Medical abortion: not applicable

Source:

Abortion statistics

Abortion rates per 1,000 women aged 15-49

Source: https://nsi.bg/en/content/20526/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2022

Overall number of induced abortions

Source: https://nsi.bg/en/content/20526/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2022

Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: 328 (2021)

Source: https://nsi.bg/en/content/20526/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2022

Abortions performed “on request”: 58% (2021)

Source: https://nsi.bg/en/content/20526/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2022

Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions

Source: https://nsi.bg/en/content/20526/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2022

Induced abortions per gestational age ()

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Place of abortion (2020)

Source: https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/19297/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/health-services-2021

Characteristics of women having induced abortion

Abortion rate per 1,000 women according to age (2021)

Source: https://nsi.bg/en/content/20526/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2022

Source:

Fertility and contraception

Fertility rates in women aged 15-49

Source: https://infostat.nsi.bg/infostat/pages/module.jsf?x_2=3&lang=en; https://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/publications/DMGR2022.pdf

Women age at first birth

27,6 years of age (2022)

Source:

https://infostat.nsi.bg/infostat/pages/module.jsf?x_2=3&lang=en

Country-specific characteristics

Abortion is free of charge for women <16 or >35 years old, or registered as socially weak. Abortion is also free of charge if performed due to medical reasons or in case of rape. In the other cases, women have to pay around 154-262 € for medical abortion and around 89-206 € for surgical abortion.

Source:

IPPF European Network – Updated January 2020 (http://www.ippfen.org/)

Download statistics of Bulgaria

The statistics presented are freely accessible and may be used, copied, displayed or distributed provided that their source is given. You can choose whether you prefer to download the statistics of the last 10 years or the full data set. Press one of the buttons to generate a report in PDF format for this country.

Last 10 years

Full data set

A special thanks to our correspondents for contributing in data collection.
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Page last updated: 29 February 2024