The fertility rate, total (births per woman) in Armenia is reported at 1.7 while the rate was 2.8 in 90s per women, Karine Saribekyan, Director of the Maternal and Child Health Department at the Armenian Ministry of Healthcare, told reporters on Monday while presenting the data of the newly released “Armenia Demographic and Health Survey 2015-2016” (ADHS).

In Saribekyan’s words, a tendency of declining abortion rates is observed in Armenia. According to the research, in 2015-2016, 69% of pregnancies ended in live births in 2015-2016, 23% - in induced abortions, while 9% - in miscarriages, and stillbirths. The previous research conducted in 2000 suggested abortions rate at 55%, 45% in the research conducted in 2005, and 29% - in the Demographic Research of the year 2010.

The head of the department detailed that two third of the induced abortions were due to the woman’s wish to have no more children, 8% - with diseases in offspring, another 8% for sex-selective reasons.