10,852 abortions were notified in Ireland in 2024, according to new figures published by Ireland's Department of Health.

The figure is the highest number of terminations that were notified since reporting began in 2019, following the repeal of Ireland's Eighth Amendment and the enactment of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.

The reporting - which does not include identifying information about the woman who received the abortion  - is required under the 2018 Act.

In 2024, the vast majority of reported terminations - 10,711 - were "early pregnancy" abortions, or pregnancies that had not exceeded 12 weeks.

108 were carried out due to conditions likely to lead to the death of the foetus, nine were carried out due to risk to life or health in an emergency, and 24 were carried out due to risk to life or health.

The figures were included in the sixth Annual Report on the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, required under section 20 of the Act. The report covers the period from January 1, 2024, until December 31, 2024.

The Department of Health noted that this is the sixth annual report to be published since the grounds on which termination of pregnancy is lawfully permitted were expanded in Ireland under the legislation introduced following the result of the May 2018 referendum on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.

The report goes on to break down the number of terminations of pregnancy notified by month in which the termination of pregnancy was carried out.

The month with the most abortions notified in 2024 was January, with 1056. May followed with 967, and 941 were notified in April.

92 of the reported abortions for 2024 did not provide a date.

The report further outlines the number of terminations of pregnancy notified by the woman’s county of residence, or place of residence where the woman resides outside of the State.

4,125 terminations were notified by women who reside in Dublin, 957 were notified by women who reside in Cork, and 507 were notified by women who reside in Galway.

450 terminations notified did not provide a county or place, 12 reported "other," and eight reported their residence as Northern Ireland.

About Ireland's abortion laws

On May 25, 2018, the Republic of Ireland voted 66.4% to 33.6% in favor of repealing the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibited abortion.

That December, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas, and it was signed into law by the President on December 20, 2018.

As the report notes, the main purpose of the Act of 2018 is to set out the law governing access to termination of pregnancy in Ireland. It permits termination to be carried out in cases where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman, including in an emergency; where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth; and without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The expanded service for termination of pregnancy under the Act of 2018 was introduced on January 1, 2019.