A total of 51 abortions were carried out in the UK last year on women resident in Malta.

The figures are contained in a British Department of Health report.

Last year, the Maltese National Statistics Office said that an average of 57 abortions a year were carried out on Maltese women in England and Wales in the previous 10 years.

The number of abortions dropped to 38 in 2008. But it soared to 78 abortions on Maltese women in the UK in 2009.

There are no figures for abortions on Maltese women carried out in other countries.

A total of 6,535 abortions on non-residents are reported to have been performed in England and Wales last year of which 4,402 involved women resident in the Irish Republic and 1,101 on women resident in Northern Ireland.

The report shows that the total number of abortions in England and Wales last year was 189,574, 0.3% more than in 2009 (189,100) and 8.0% more than in 2000 (175,542).

The age-standardised abortion rate was 17.5 per 1,000 resident women aged 15-44, the same as in 2009, but 3% higher than in 2000 (17.0) and more than double the rate of 8.0 recorded in 1970.

The abortion rate was highest at 33 per 1,000 for women aged 19 and 20, the same as in 2009 and slightly lower than the highest rates in the year 2000 (34 per 1,000 for both 19 and 20 year olds).

The under-16 abortion rate was 3.9 per 1,000 women and the under-18 rate was 16.5 per 1,000 women, both lower than in 2009 (4.0 and 17.6 per 1,000 women respectively) and in the year 2000 (3.9 and 18.3 per 1,000 women respectively).

6% of abortions were funded by the NHS. Over half (59%) took place in the independent sector under NHS contract, up from 2% in 1981.

91% of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks gestation. 77% were at under 10 weeks, compared to 75% in 2009 and 58% in 2000.

Medical abortions accounted for 43% of the total, up from 12% in 2000.

2,290 abortions (1%) were carried out under ground E (risk that the child would be born handicapped),

In 2010, there were 6,535 abortions for non-residents carried out in hospitals and clinics in England and Wales (6,643 in 2009). The 2010 total was the lowest in any year since 1969.

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