Prior to 2019, abortion could only be carried out in the Republic of Ireland “to avert a real and substantial risk to the life of the pregnant woman.“ The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 amended the Constitution to allow for legal abortion without restriction up to 12 weeks. The new law went into effect on January 1, 2019. The following information comes from Ireland’s Department of Health and has been combined with available birth data1 to provide an overview of the frequency and demography of abortion in the Republic of Ireland.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ABORTION, visit: Prenatal Development, Abortion Procedures or Abortion Pictures
IF YOU ARE PREGNANT AND NEED HELP, visit the Pro Life Campaign.
ANNUAL ABORTION STATISTICS
- In 2024, a reported 10,852 abortions took place in the Republic of Ireland. This is up from 10,033 abortions in 2023. Additional annual abortion totals are listed below:
Annual Abortion Totals by Year 2022 2021 2020 2019 8,156 4,577* 6,577 6,666 *The Department of Health reports that due to a criminal cyber attack on the HSE, "the number of terminations of pregnancy notified to the Minister is substantially lower than the number of terminations carried out in 2021."
- Almost 17% of all pregnancies (excluding spontaneous miscarriages) ended in abortion in 2024. That’s up from 15.5% in 2023. Additional abortion percentages by selected year are listed below:
Percentage of Pregnancies Aborted by Year (excluding spontaneous miscarriages) 2022 2021 2020 2019 13.0% 7.0%* 10.4% 10.1% *The Department of Health reports that due to a criminal cyber attack on the HSE, "the number of terminations of pregnancy notified to the Minister is substantially lower than the number of terminations carried out in 2021."
- Pior to its legalization in 2019, Irish mothers could travel to Great Britain for an abortion. Resident abortion totals by year are listed below:2
Resident Abortion Totals by Year 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2,879 3,019 3,265 3,451 3,735 3,679 3,982 4,149 4,402 Resident Abortion Totals by Year 2018 2017 2016 2015 2,879 3,019 3,265 3,451 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 3,735 3,679 3,982 4,149 4,402 - When Irish mothers had to travel to Great Britain for an abortion, a lower percentge of pregnancies were aborted. Resident abortion totals by year are listed below:
Resident Abortion Percentages by Year 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 4.5% 4.7% 4.9% 5.0% 5.2% 5.0% 5.2% 5.3% 5.5% Resident Abortion Percentages by Year 2018 2017 2016 2015 4.5% 4.7% 4.9% 5.0% 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 5.2% 5.0% 5.2% 5.3% 5.5%
WHY DO ABORTIONS OCCUR?
- Less than 0.4% of 2024 abortions were performed because of a health risk to the mother.
- Less than 1% of 2024 abortions were performed because of fetal anomaly.
ABORTION AND PUBLIC FUNDS
- The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 states that all resident abortions in Ireland are to be paid for with public funds.
This page was last updated on February 24, 2026. To cite this page in a research paper, visit: "Citing Abort73 as a Source."
- In 2024, there were 54,062 births recorded in the Republic of Ireland.
- Abortion totals for these years come from the UK's Department of Health and Social Care.
Footnotes
