Ireland abortions and live births by county, 2012-2024

compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 20 July 2025

Note: Through 2018 abortion was illegal in Ireland except in cases where the mother's life is at risk. Data provided here included reported abortions performed in Ireland and abortions performed outside Ireland obtained by residents of Ireland.

Reported abortions occurring in Ireland by county of residence, 2012-2024

county	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Carlow								74	56	46	54	89	80
Cavan								77	107	70	116	123	119
Clare								73	83	82	118	177	178
Cork								606	645	408	734	873	957
Donegal								127	128	90	169	249	285
Dublin								2,493	2,414	1,618	3,005	3,645	4,125
Galway								280	274	206	354	446	507
Kerry								48	110	103	189	254	262
Kildare								295	264	165	318	429	436
Kilkenny								96	83	64	131	134	166
Laois								79	60	46	107	129	140
Leitrim								27	28	22	48	47	49
Limerick								226	278	186	377	423	441
Longford								47	52	41	61	76	81
Louth								213	220	160	301	330	333
Mayo								111	105	83	124	179	218
Meath								252	240	168	270	317	359
Monaghan								36	54	46	57	74	78
Offaly								67	67	49	80	133	141
Roscommon								43	53	38	77	98	66
Sligo								59	60	54	88	104	140
Tipperary, North and South								174	161	128	226	240	245
Waterford								149	158	124	206	258	281
Westmeath								104	108	76	122	174	171
Wexford								165	159	147	203	236	258
Wicklow								138	141	145	151	245	266
UNKNOWN	0	0	26	26	25	15	32	525	425	2,311	1,173	535	450
IRELAND TOTAL	0	0	26	26	25	15	32	6,584	6,533	6,676	8,859	10,017	10,832
NON-RESIDENT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	82	44	7	17	16	20
TOTAL IN IRELAND	0	0	26	26	25	15	32	6,666	6,577	6,683	8,876	10,033	10,852

Reported abortions obtained abroad by residents of Ireland by county of residence, 2012-2022

county	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Carlow	36	38	24	35	36	33	34	3	7	3	3
Cavan	33	22	51	32	33	32	34	6	3	4	2
Clare	64	55	59	81	53	51	61	13	1	5	5
Cork	320	262	345	280	241	242	246	36	12	27	25
Donegal	83	87	88	67	63	45	51	11	1	6	3
Dublin	1,275	1,164	1,389	1,311	1,175	1,159	1,182	141	40	75	80
Galway	138	133	175	156	113	140	138	23	7	14	7
Kerry	74	51	63	56	49	48	52	3	3	6	8
Kildare	120	124	148	147	130	146	126	18	5	11	8
Kilkenny	37	32	48	42	44	43	52	7	2	1	1
Laois	30	30	36	35	42	39	54	2	7	2	4
Leitrim	21	9	15	17	21	24	16	2	0	0	3
Limerick	106	94	110	111	99	108	119	17	3	2	7
Longford	31	19	17	23	16	12	24	5	0	1	0
Louth	88	93	76	94	83	78	71	7	2	0	2
Mayo	45	51	75	60	38	42	58	6	0	4	5
Meath	86	119	125	141	100	114	109	7	1	11	4
Monaghan	23	20	22	19	15	22	15	1	0	0	0
Offaly	58	42	52	39	28	29	20	2	0	3	0
Roscommon	28	27	27	25	20	17	22	1	2	0	1
Sligo	38	33	34	38	29	36	30	5	4	3	2
Tipperary, North and South	101	74	89	70	69	78	67	13	4	5	9
Waterford	45	57	69	68	56	62	51	7	1	6	1
Westmeath	47	45	43	56	38	45	35	6	0	5	4
Wexford	78	66	102	114	69	73	76	12	2	5	3
Wicklow	88	77	88	103	85	86	113	8	2	5	4
UNKNOWN	913	867	381	265	542	215	23	98	94	43	10
IRELAND TOTAL	4,006	3,691	3,751	3,485	3,287	3,019	2,879	460	203	247	201

Total abortions obtained by residents of Ireland, both in country and abroad, by county of residence, 2012-2024

county	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Carlow	36	38	24	35	36	33	34	77	63	49	57	89	80
Cavan	33	22	51	32	33	32	34	83	110	74	118	123	119
Clare	64	55	59	81	53	51	61	86	84	87	123	177	178
Cork	320	262	345	280	241	242	246	642	657	435	759	873	957
Donegal	83	87	88	67	63	45	51	138	129	96	172	249	285
Dublin	1,275	1,164	1,389	1,311	1,175	1,159	1,182	2,634	2,454	1,693	3,085	3,645	4,125
Galway	138	133	175	156	113	140	138	303	281	220	361	446	507
Kerry	74	51	63	56	49	48	52	51	113	109	197	254	262
Kildare	120	124	148	147	130	146	126	313	269	176	326	429	436
Kilkenny	37	32	48	42	44	43	52	103	85	65	132	134	166
Laois	30	30	36	35	42	39	54	81	67	48	111	129	140
Leitrim	21	9	15	17	21	24	16	29	28	22	51	47	49
Limerick	106	94	110	111	99	108	119	243	281	188	384	423	441
Longford	31	19	17	23	16	12	24	52	52	42	61	76	81
Louth	88	93	76	94	83	78	71	220	222	160	303	330	333
Mayo	45	51	75	60	38	42	58	117	105	87	129	179	218
Meath	86	119	125	141	100	114	109	259	241	179	274	317	359
Monaghan	23	20	22	19	15	22	15	37	54	46	57	74	78
Offaly	58	42	52	39	28	29	20	69	67	52	80	133	141
Roscommon	28	27	27	25	20	17	22	44	55	38	78	98	66
Sligo	38	33	34	38	29	36	30	64	64	57	90	104	140
Tipperary, North and South	101	74	89	70	69	78	67	187	165	133	235	240	245
Waterford	45	57	69	68	56	62	51	156	159	130	207	258	281
Westmeath	47	45	43	56	38	45	35	110	108	81	126	174	171
Wexford	78	66	102	114	69	73	76	177	161	152	206	236	258
Wicklow	88	77	88	103	85	86	113	146	143	150	155	245	266
UNKNOWN	913	867	407	291	567	230	55	623	519	2,354	1,183	535	450
IRELAND TOTAL	4,006	3,691	3,777	3,511	3,312	3,034	2,911	7,044	6,736	6,923	9,060	10,017	10,832

Ireland reported live births by county, 2012-2024

county	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Carlow	948	852	927	828	743	774	829	749	720	786	724	649	637
Cavan	1,161	1,100	1,051	1,070	1,028	1,051	1,023	971	1,012	950	1,039	974	930
Clare	1,690	1,491	1,459	1,542	1,480	1,420	1,374	1,327	1,309	1,304	1,279	1,258	1,232
Cork	8,064	7,851	7,544	7,551	7,031	6,836	6,872	6,528	6,328	6,724	6,070	5,785	5,942
Donegal	2,104	1,919	1,842	1,896	1,900	1,827	1,892	1,812	1,691	1,749	1,667	1,773	1,667
Dublin	21,458	20,354	20,271	19,688	19,208	18,203	18,005	17,488	16,125	16,596	17,150	15,531	15,363
Galway	3,957	3,730	3,611	3,539	3,491	3,332	3,269	3,211	2,886	3,208	2,976	2,946	2,952
Kerry	1,930	1,802	1,719	1,704	1,735	1,641	1,625	1,541	1,485	1,668	1,507	1,460	1,381
Kildare	3,689	3,417	3,444	3,391	3,252	3,180	3,063	3,012	2,915	2,912	3,051	2,989	3,001
Kilkenny	1,405	1,328	1,315	1,219	1,168	1,164	1,119	1,091	1,015	1,111	1,045	1,060	1,059
Laois	1,292	1,200	1,185	1,182	1,109	1,198	1,059	1,104	952	1,057	980	958	955
Leitrim	447	458	399	414	418	399	418	426	380	405	391	338	381
Limerick	2,884	2,734	2,724	2,710	2,614	2,568	2,538	2,387	2,363	2,317	2,341	2,275	2,212
Longford	645	612	571	563	593	544	557	583	519	543	514	503	472
Louth	1,891	1,968	1,819	1,819	1,812	1,732	1,695	1,655	1,589	1,493	1,748	1,578	1,565
Mayo	1,784	1,713	1,650	1,577	1,567	1,497	1,456	1,498	1,398	1,451	1,484	1,400	1,341
Meath	3,206	3,202	2,982	2,799	2,805	2,704	2,644	2,721	2,498	2,674	2,703	2,667	2,517
Monaghan	838	830	819	817	796	777	828	747	759	790	787	724	726
Offaly	1,170	1,075	1,141	1,040	1,008	1,011	949	929	884	998	877	865	876
Roscommon	869	875	802	751	764	763	715	823	759	746	704	712	687
Sligo	982	875	817	808	774	742	795	753	749	780	677	702	694
Tipperary, North and South	2,240	2,287	2,102	2,143	2,047	2,014	2,088	1,846	1,792	2,003	1,802	1,736	1,712
Waterford	1,687	1,707	1,618	1,565	1,498	1,403	1,437	1,346	1,314	1,378	1,357	1,290	1,298
Westmeath	1,398	1,362	1,360	1,274	1,257	1,280	1,221	1,143	1,156	1,185	1,145	1,089	1,107
Wexford	2,241	2,086	2,096	1,988	1,901	1,907	1,806	1,805	1,731	1,774	1,750	1,772	1,702
Wicklow	2,245	2,102	2,027	2,031	1,898	1,851	1,701	1,749	1,594	1,800	1,727	1,588	1,617
IRELAND TOTAL	72,225	68,930	67,295	65,909	63,897	61,818	60,978	59,245	55,923	58,402	57,495	54,678	54,062

Sources (incomplete):

Central Statistics Office, Ireland, 2015, "Vital statistics yearly summary 2014," CSO, on line [http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-vsar/vsar2014/births2014/].
Central Statistics Office, Ireland, 31 May 2016, "Vital statistics yearly summary 2015," CSO, on line [http://pdf.cso.ie/www/pdf/20160628033934_Vital_Statistics_Yearly_Summary_2015_full.pdf].
Central Statistics Office, Ireland, 31 May 2017, "Vital statistics yearly summary 2016," CSO, on line [http://pdf.cso.ie/www/pdf/20170601121401_Vital_Statistics_Yearly_Summary_2016_full.pdf].
Department of Health, 12 June 2014, "Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2013," Gov.UK, on line [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319460/Abortion_Statistics__England_and_Wales_2013.pdf].
Department of Health, 2015, "Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2014, complete tables," Gov.UK, on line [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/530597/2014_complete_tables.xlsx].
Department of Health, 2016, "Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2015," Gov.UK, on line [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/570040/Updated_Abortion_Statistics_2015.pdf].
Department of Health, July 2013, "Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2012," Gov.UK, on line [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211790/2012_Abortion_Statistics.pdf].
Department of Health, Oct. 2017, "Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2016," Gov.UK, on line [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652083/Abortion_stats_England_Wales_2016.pdf].

© 2014-2023, 2025 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 20 July 2025.
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