Statistics
Between January 1980 and December 2010, at least 147,912 women travelled from the Republic of Ireland for safe abortion services abroad.
The UK Department of Health releases statistics each year on the number of women and girls who gave Republic of Ireland addresses at abortion clinics in England and Wales. Its important to note that these numbers are an underestimation as not all women resident in the Republic of Ireland will provide their Irish address for reasons of confidentiality. Furthermore, some Irish women will give addresses in the UK at which they are not resident in order to obtain abortion care paid for by the NHS.
An increasing number of women are accessing safe and legal abortion services in EU countries other than England and Wales. According to statistics compiled by the Crisis Pregnancy Programme 1,470 women travelled from Ireland to the Netherlands from 2005-2009 to access safe abortion services.
Women for whom travel is impossible because of financial hardship or immigration reasons are resorting to illegal methods of terminating their pregnancies in Ireland. The Irish Medicines Board’s disclosure that 1,216 illegal packets of abortion inducing drugs were seized by Irish Customs Authorities in 2009 substantiates the anecdotal evidence from health care providers that an increasing number of women are ordering medication online to selfinduce abortions.
UK Department of Health Statistics of Irish Women Accessing Abortion Services in England and Wales 1980 - 2010
| Year | All ages | Under 16 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40 and over | Not stated | ||
| 2010 | 4,402 | 41 | 115 | 303 | 1,181 | 1,137 | 789 | 565 | 271 | |||
| 2009 | 4,422 | 38 | 155 | 291 | 1,234 | 1,164 | 759 | 523 | 258 | |||
| 2008 | 4,600 | 27 | 140 | 344 | 1,296 | 1,232 | 841 | 499 | 221 | - | ||
| 2007 | 4,686 | 47 | 147 | 350 | 1,387 | 1,282 | 790 | 474 | 209 | - | ||
| 2006 | 5,042 | 39 | 194 | 419 | 1505 | 1370 | 824 | 491 | 200 | - | ||
| 2005 | 5,585 | 39 | 173 | 482 | 1759 | 1451 | 860 | 541 | 280 | - | ||
| 2004 | 6,217 | 49 | 209 | 540 | 1963 | 1663 | 951 | 607 | 235 | - | ||
| 2003 | 6,320 | 42 | 242 | 552 | 2090 | 1597 | 954 | 579 | 264 | - | ||
| 2002 | 6,522 | 54 | 245 | 615 | 2258 | 1604 | 928 | 552 | 263 | 1 |
| Year | All ages | Under 15 | 15 | 16-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45 and over | Not stated |
| 2001 | 6,673 | 12 | 29 | 903 | 2,404 | 1,685 | 875 | 508 | 239 | 18 | - |
| 2000 | 6,391 | 10 | 17 | 857 | 2,243 | 1,631 | 853 | 549 | 216 | 15 | - |
| 1999 | 6,226 | 8 | 25 | 894 | 2,301 | 1,519 | 749 | 502 | 196 | 31 | 1 |
| 1998 | 5,891 | 7 | 20 | 871 | 2,137 | 1,489 | 686 | 462 | 195 | 23 | 1 |
| 1997 | 5,340 | 10 | 30 | 782 | 1,986 | 1,235 | 645 | 448 | 178 | 26 | - |
| 1996 | 4,894 | 6 | 22 | 738 | 1,871 | 1,107 | 608 | 351 | 171 | 19 | 1 |
| 1995 | 4,532 | 7 | 18 | 673 | 1,763 | 943 | 561 | 382 | 162 | 23 | - |
| 1994 | 4,590 | 9 | 28 | 591 | 1,856 | 987 | 545 | 387 | 172 | 15 | - |
| 1993 | 4,402 | 9 | 28 | 622 | 1,678 | 924 | 561 | 372 | 186 | 22 | - |
| 1992 | 4,254 | 5 | 15 | 696 | 1,610 | 855 | 529 | 372 | 156 | 16 | - |
| 1991 | 4,154 | 7 | 14 | 679 | 1,511 | 845 | 521 | 385 | 174 | 18 | - |
| Year | All ages | Under 20 | 20-34 | 35+ | Unstated |
| 1990 | 4,064 | 667 | 2,881 | 516 | - |
| 1989 | 3,721 | 588 | 2,624 | 509 | - |
| 1988 | 3,839 | 556 | 2,768 | 514 | - |
| 1987 | 3,673 | 512 | 2,671 | 490 | - |
| 1986 | 3,918 | 569 | 2,858 | 491 | - |
| 1985 | 3,888 | 574 | 2,827 | 487 | - |
| 1984 | 3,946 | 556 | 2,904 | 484 | 2 |
| 1983 | 3,677 | 559 | 2,680 | 435 | 3 |
| 1982 | 3,650 | 555 | 2,697 | 397 | 4 |
| 1981 | 3,603 | 556 | 2,655 | 375 | 17 |
| 1980 | 3,320 | 495 | 2,494 | 326 | 5 |
| Year | Recorded Number of Women Accessing Abortion Services in the Netherlands |
| 2005 | 42 |
| 2006 | 461 |
| 2007 | 451 |
| 2008 | 351 |
| 2009 | 134 |
| 2010 | 31 |