The abortion rate in Northern Ireland jumped by more than a quarter in one year alone, figures released by the NI Department of Health show. It comes as recent projections released by the North’s official statistics agency point to a rapidly aging society, with the number of pensioners expected to outnumber children by 2027.
2,168 abortions were carried out in the province in 2022/23, compared to 2,792 in 2023/24 – an increase of 29 per cent. The yearly number of abortions is now 77 per cent higher than in 2020/21, when 1,574 abortions were recorded, and significantly higher than the figure of 1,757 abortions in 2021/22.
In October 2019, abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland, due to legislation passed in March 2020, The law was passed by the Westminster Parliament, in the absence of a Stormont Executive, despite a public consultation launched by the government later revealing that 79 per cent of respondents were opposed to the law which was later imposed.
In a statement, Belfast based pro-life organisation Precious Life described the report as “horrific,” noting the increase since the previous year, showing that on average, eight abortions take place in the North daily.
“The Department of Health kills babies up to 12 weeks old for any reason, no questions asked,” Director Bernadette Smyth said. “The Department also admitted in their report that 26 abortions were carried out when the baby was aged from 20 weeks up to the moment of birth. And 25 babies were killed simply because they may have had a disability.
“Their report also states that from 31 March 2020 there have been 8,291 abortions carried out in Northern Ireland up until 31 March 2024. However, the most recent statistic for the number of babies killed by abortion in Northern Ireland since 2020 is 8,490. This figure was admitted in May 2024 by the Health Minister in answer to an Assembly Question from TUV leader Jim Allister. Therefore, now in January 2025 the number of babies killed will be even higher than 8,490,” the organisation said.
Precious Life also referred to what it termed Northern Ireland’s “depopulation crisis,” citing a report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Industry, that predicted that within six years, the number of deaths will outweigh the number of annual births in Northern Ireland.
As reported by the BBC at the end of January, among the constituent parts of the UK, Northern Ireland is projected to have the largest decrease in the population of children, and the largest increase in the pension age population. The report by the official statistics agency says that the population will start falling due to a low birth rate.
The NI Statistics and Research Agency said that the North’s population is projected to peak at 1.95m in 2033 before starting to decline, suggesting that any population increase after 2031 would solely be due to migration.
The BBC reports: “The projection is based on current assumptions about birth and death rates and migration.
“Overall it projects the NI population to increase by just 1.1% between 2022 and 2047. That is much lower than the other parts of the UK, mainly based on the assumption that migration to NI will continue at the current relatively low rate.”
The projections forecast that the number of children, defined as people under 15 years old, is set to fall from just over one in five of the population in 2022 to less than one in six by 2047.