A total of 78 abortions were held on Maltese women in the UK last year, figures issued today by the Department of Health in Britain show.

In all, 6,643 abortions were performed on non-residents.

The Maltese National Statistics Office earlier this year said that an average of 57 abortions a year were carried out on Maltese women in England and Wales in the past 10 years.

The highest number, 69, were carried out in 2002 and 2007. The number of abortions dropped to 38 in 2008, the lowest number since at least 1990.

The Health Department said that for England and Wales, the total number of abortions last year was 189,100, compared with 195,296 in 2008.

The age-standardised abortion rate was 17.5 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44, compared with 18.2 in 2008.

The abortion rate was highest at 33 per 1,000, for women aged 19, 20 and 21, each lower than in 2008.

The under-16 abortion rate was 4.0 and the under-18 rate was 17.6 per 1,000 women, both lower than in 2008.

94% of abortions were funded by the NHS; of these, over half (60%) took place in the independent sector under NHS contract.

91% of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation; 75% were at under 10 weeks.

Medical abortions accounted for 40% of the total.

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