A Wake-Up Call: Older People Will Outnumber Children in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland stands on the brink of a demographic crisis that should concern us all: by the middle of 2027, the number of pensioners is expected to exceed the number of children, while by 2030 deaths are forecast to outnumber births.
Besides, the number of those aged 65 and over is also projected to increase by 44.7% by 2049. These are not far-off figures. Rather, they reveal the human consequences of a society that has permitted more than 11,000 unborn babies to lose their lives to abortion since 2020. Precious Life warned that this day would come.
Previously, we cautioned that once abortion was imposed on Northern Ireland, our birth rate would fall further, our population would age, and our children would become fewer. Currently, official projections have confirmed what we forecast: Northern Ireland is poised to have the largest decrease in its child population, while the pension-age population is increasing faster than anywhere else in the United Kingdom.
Notably, Northern Ireland’s population is expected to peak at around 1.94 million in mid-2031, before beginning a long-term decline to 1.91 million by 2049. Besides, the child population is forecast to fall by 23.8%, while the over-65 population is projected to rise by 44.7%. The number of people aged 85 and over is expected to more than double, from 42,900 to 96,900.
These figures are far more than mere numbers in a report. Instead, they reveal a country steadily losing the young generation that should shape its future.
Rightly, the Belfast Telegraph reported that the trend of older people outnumbering children was a “wake-up call.” Nonetheless, the most urgent wake-up call lies in its cause: since abortion was undemocratically imposed on Northern Ireland, more than 11,000 babies have lost their lives.
Precious Life Saw This Decline Coming
In January 2025, we highlighted that Northern Ireland was projected to have the largest decrease of children. We cautioned that the abortion regime introduced in 2020 would contribute to the fall in births and expedite our population decline.
As recent figures would have it, we were not fear-mongering back them but simply telling the truth before official figures confirmed it. At that time, we also mentioned that 2,792 babies had been killed by abortion in a single year, describing the Northern Ireland Department of Health statistics as “truly horrific” and further proof that “Northern Ireland is dying.”
We said then what we say now: a country cannot murder over 11,000 of its children and expect to thrive. Every abortion terminates a unique human life. Every abortion removes a son or daughter, a future friend, neighbour, worker, parent, and citizen from Northern Ireland’s future.
Abortion Has Made This Crisis Worse
Since March 2020, when abortion was legalized, the number of abortions has spiralled year after year: 1,574 in 2020/21, 1,757 in 2021/22, 2,168 in 2022/23, and 2,792 in 2023/24. Recent figures reveal that 2,899 abortions were performed in 2024/25, an increase of 3.7% from the previous year.
In total, there have been 11,192 abortions in Northern Ireland up to 31 March 2025. This means that more than 11,000 children who could have been born, raised, educated, and loved in Northern Ireland are gone. This reality cannot be separate from Northern Ireland’s current demographic crisis—it is part of it.
The Human Cost of Abortion
Bernadette Smyth, Founder and Director of Precious Life, has consistently exposed the human reality behind these rising abortion numbers. Earlier, she lamented that the pro-abortion political parties, which supported the imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland, now have “the blood of 11,192 babies” on their hands. Additionally, Bernadette explained the scale of the loss in terms everyone can understand: 11,193 babies is equivalent to the entire population of towns such as Downpatrick, Limavady, Ballyclare, or Ballymoney, or 448 classrooms full of children.
Picture 448 empty classrooms. Picture the children who should have been sitting in them, learning to read, taking part in sport, forming friendships, and becoming Northern Ireland’s next generation. That is what abortion has robbed from us.
A Nation Cannot Survive Without Children
When a country documents more deaths than births, it is already in decline. When older people surpass children in number, the pressure falls on families, schools, hospitals, care services, and the young people who must carry the responsibilities of an aging society.
The Department of Education of Northern Ireland has cautioned that student enrolment may decline by over 12% during the coming decade, placing smaller rural schools at particular risk. Specialists have likewise cautioned that an ageing population will increasingly strain health and social care services.
This is what happens when a society treats children as a burden rather than a blessing. This is what happens when unborn babies are treated as problems to be eradicated instead of precious human beings to be protected. Northern Ireland is now seeing the ramifications of such societal attitudes, and many people are unfortunately choosing to ignore the disastrous costs of abortion, to their own detriment.