“Bulgaria ranks third in Eastern Europe in the rate of abortions, following Russia and Ukraine,” announced dr. Tanya Andreeva during the press conference for the International day of birth control.

Every year, there are about 185 million unwanted pregnancies, and between 30 and 50 million of them end in abortions – legal or illegal.

37 thousand abortions are registered in Bulgaria every year. Births are 75 thousand per year, which means that a third of all pregnancies end in abortion.

Statistics also show a positive trend of fewer abortions this year, compared to the previous, and an increasing number of births.

About 20% of the pregnancies in Bulgaria are planned, while the norm for the countries in the European Union is about 60-70%. Only 6% of the Bulgarian population trusts birth control pills.

Dr. Andreeva explained that abortions are one of the reasons for infertility. 250 thousand couples in Bulgaria have this problem, but the cause being uneducated sexual life is a relative rarity.