Abortion Statistics:
More Information
Total number of abortions in Ireland: over 65,000
The total number of abortions in Ireland during the seven years from 2019 to 2025 amounts to over 60,000. Including estimated figures up to June 2026, over 65,000 abortions have taken place in Ireland since abortion was legalised.
Abortion statistics to date: summary
| Number of abortions | Details (source) |
|---|---|
| 48,980 | GP claims 2019-2024 (HSE) |
| 722 | Non-GP abortions 2019-2024 (Department of Health)* |
| 10,600 | Abortions, all categories 2025 (Department of Health) |
| 60,302 | Total documented abortions to date 2019-2025 |
| 5,300 | Abortions, all categories, Jan-June 2026 (estimate**) |
| 65,602 | Total abortions to date 2019 to June 2026 |
*This figure refers to abortions under Sections 9, 10 and 11 of the 2018 Act. This figure, or others in this table, do not include abortions in hospitals under Section 12.
**Estimate for January to June 2026 is half of total numbers for 2025.
Numbers of abortions recorded in Ireland
| Year | Annual report total | Section 9 | Section 10 | Section 11 | Section 12 | GP claims |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6,666 | 21 | 3 | 100 | 6,542 | 6,152 |
| 2020 | 6,577 | 20 | 5 | 97 | 6,455 | 6,735 |
| 2021* | 4,577 | 9 | 2 | 53 | 4,513 | 6,686 |
| 2022 | 8,156 | 22 | 4 | 88 | 8,042 | 8,887 |
| 2023 | 10,033 | 21 | 7 | 129 | 9,876 | 10,063 |
| 2024 | 10,852 | 24 | 9 | 108 | 10,711 | 10,457 |
| 2025** | 10,600 | 25 | 13 | 117 | 10,445 | 7,000 |
| Total | 57,461 | 142 | 43 | 692 | 56,584 | 55,980 |
This table provides the numbers of abortions recorded in Ireland. Sources: Department of Health notifications from the Department's published annual reports on abortion, and HSE responses to parliamentary questions on GP reimbursement claims.
*2021 statistics show a large discrepancy between statistics published by Department of Health and by the HSE based on GP reimbursement claims. The Department of Health issued a supplementary note acknowledging this.
**The number of GP reimbursement claims on abortion consultations are available for only part of 2025, up to August.
Section 9: Risk to life or health; Section 10: Risk to life or health in emergency; Section 11: Condition likely to lead to death of foetus; Section 12: Early pregnancy (has not exceeded 12 weeks of pregnancy). From the 2018 Act which legalised abortion.
*Some years, particularly 2021 during which the HSE experienced a cyberattack, have discrepancies between abortion statistics recorded through GP reimbursement claims and Department of Health notifications.
Because of this, in the chart above we have used an estimate of 7,000 abortions in 2021, based on the 6,686 GP reimbursement claims on record, in place of the much lower total of 4,577 abortions reported by the Department of Health in 2021.
The three-day wait: detailed figures by year
From 2019 to 2024, records of GP claims for reimbursement show a total of 48,980 second consultations and 59,401 first consultations on abortion.
Women who did not return for a second GP visit includes those who continued their pregnancy, or did not return for other reasons. However, estimated figures for these other reasons, such as abortions in hospital or pregnancy over 12 weeks, account for only a minority of those who did not return.
| Year | 1st visit | 2nd visit | Difference (n) | Difference (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 7,536 | 6,152 | 1,384 | 18% |
| 2020 | 8,057 | 6,735 | 1,322 | 16% |
| 2021 | 8,284 | 6,686 | 1,598 | 19% |
| 2022 | 10,784 | 8,887 | 1,897 | 18% |
| 2023 | 12,099 | 10,063 | 2,036 | 17% |
| 2024 | 12,641 | 10,457 | 2,184 | 17% |
| Total | 59,401 | 48,980 | 10,421 | 17.5% |
Background information on the three-day wait: The number of abortions by General Practitioners (GPs) is sourced from answers to parliamentary questions (details available on request) based on records of the HSE's Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) scheme, which allows GPs to claim payment for each consultation related to abortion.
During the first consultation, GPs provide information and can examine the pregnant woman, but do not start the abortion procedure until the second consultation, at least three days later (PCRS reimbursement category "Combined termination procedure and aftercare").
Abortion statistics by county
| County | Abortions 2025 | Abortions 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 70 | 34 |
| Cavan | 125 | 34 |
| Clare | 169 | 61 |
| Cork | 960 | 246 |
| Donegal | 229 | 51 |
| Dublin | 3,989 | 1,182 |
| Galway | 460 | 138 |
| Kerry | 244 | 52 |
| Kildare | 414 | 126 |
| Kilkenny | 147 | 52 |
| Laois | 158 | 54 |
| Leitrim | 54 | 16 |
| Limerick | 466 | 119 |
| Longford | 88 | 24 |
| Louth | 333 | 71 |
| Mayo | 212 | 58 |
| Meath | 359 | 109 |
| Monaghan | 90 | 15 |
| Offaly | 130 | 20 |
| Roscommon | 78 | 22 |
| Sligo | 129 | 30 |
| Tipperary | 237 | 67 |
| Waterford | 230 | 51 |
| Westmeath | 189 | 35 |
| Wexford | 240 | 76 |
| Wicklow | 250 | 113 |
| Ireland, total | 10,600 | 2,879 |
Sources
Department of Health annual government reports on national abortion statistics for Ireland can be viewed or downloaded as PDFs below, or from the collection on the Department of Health website.
- 2019 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
- 2020 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
- 2021 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
- 2022 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
- 2023 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
- 2024 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
- 2025 Annual Report (PDF) | Department of Health website
Parliamentary Questions on GP reimbursement claims:
- PQ 63551/25, Deputy Mattie McGrath (GP reimbursement claims 2019-2025): HSE website
- PQ 36944/26, Deputy Carol Nolan (GP reimbursement claims 2019-2024): HSE website