According to official Swedish epidemiological figures, during 1996 the number of abortions increased for the first time in the 1990s, breaking a declining trend, especially among women under 24 years of age. In several European countries a similar increase was reported. The number of induced abortions declined by 16.1% during 1990-95, whereas it increased by 2.3% in 1996 compared to the previous year. The corresponding increase was 4.1% for teenagers and 2.5% for women in the 20-24 age group. In Norway, a 7.2% increase was reported in the first half of 1996 compared to the first half of 1995, although there, too, there had been a declining trend during the 1990s. Preliminary figures from Denmark indicate an increase of abortions to 18,022 for 1996 vs. 17,720 for 1995. Similarly, in Great Britain, in the first half of 1996, the figure increased by 10% compared with the same period in 1995. More than 90% of women in Sweden use or have used oral contraceptives (OCs); about 50% of women up to age 24 use them, and for women up to age 29 OCs also continue to be the most frequently used contraceptive. In October 1995, the World Health Organization published an extensive epidemiological study, which showed that low-dose OCs containing third-generation gestagens pose double the risk of deep venous thrombosis compared to low-dose OCs containing second-generation gestagens. Immediately after this alarming report the trend of declining abortions stopped and the users of OCs dropped from 440,000 before the report to 370,000 in 1996 in Sweden.