The number of women who gave Irish addresses when obtaining an abortion in Britain during the first nine months last year rose by 3.3 per cent, according to the latest official statistics.
On the basis of the new figures and monthly trends for previous years, the total number is now set to exceed 6,000 in a single year for the first time, according to the Irish Family Planning Association.
Although the number of women giving Irish addresses continued to grow, the rate of increase has slowed significantly, with the 3.3 per cent rise compared to the 11.65 per cent increase recorded over the same period in 1998.
Based on the analysis of previous years, a third of terminations are typically performed in the last three months of the year, according to the IFPA.
The association estimates that the total figure for 1999 would be between 6,080 and 6,145. Those totals would represent increases of 3.2 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively.
The official figures are provisional and could be adjusted when the fourth-quarter statistics are announced. They are also incomplete, the IFPA noted, as some Irish women gave British addresses either to protect their anonymity or to obtain abortions on the National Health Service.
The IFPA chief executive, Mr Tony O'Brien, said the high rates of increase seen in the British statistics in recent years represented a progressive realignment of the figures and it brought them closer to reality.
"An average of approximately 117 women gave an Irish address when having an abortion in England each week in 1999," he said. "That is about 20 women per day of clinic service."
Meanwhile, Marie Stope International, one of Britain's largest providers of abortions, said the number of pregnancies terminated at its clinics in the first two months of this year rose by 20 per cent, compared to the same period in 1999. It blamed the rise on the millennium celebrations.