Some 528,100 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in April 2025, down 4% compared with April 2024, and up 14% compared with April 2023.
The visitors spent €375 million on their trips (excluding fares), down 10% compared with April 2024, and up 1% compared with April 2023.
The largest contingent of visitors came from Great Britain (41%), followed by visitors from the United States (18%).
The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was for holiday (40%).
Visitors stayed a total of 3.4 million nights in the country, a drop of 1% when compared with April 2024, and down 6% when compared with April 2023.
The average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 6.5 nights, up from an average of 6.4 nights in April 2024, and down from 7.9 nights in April 2023.
The Inbound Tourism release is published every month and provides unique and timely insights on visitor trips to Ireland.
This release is based on the CSO Passenger Survey which is collected from approximately 13,000 departing passengers per month at the country’s international ports and airports by a team of dedicated CSO Tourist Enumerator staff. The data collected is calibrated against passenger flow data provided by the ports and airports.
Users should note that visitors are counted not by nationality but by country of residence, as such, foreign passport holders who are normally resident in Ireland are included as domestic travellers and not foreign visitors, while Irish passport holders who reside abroad and make a trip to Ireland are counted as visitors.
Foreign visitors in the context of this release refers to overseas residents who have stayed at least one night in Ireland. Visits from residents of Northern Ireland are not captured. Foreign visitors who depart Ireland via the airports and seaports of Northern Ireland are not captured in the survey.
April typically accounts for between 7% and 9% of total annual visitor figures. Given the relatively small proportion of the total visitors accounted for in this period, external factors such as the date of Easter or other periodic events may have an observable impact.
To learn more about the methodology, please see the accompanying FAQ.
Some 528,100 foreign residents completed their visits to Ireland in April 2025, a decrease of 4% compared with April 2024. These visitors spent 3.4 million nights in Ireland, a drop of 1% compared with the same month in 2024. The visitors’ average length of stay was 6.5 nights, up from an average of 6.4 nights in April 2024. The visitors spent €375.4 million on their trips, a decrease of 10% compared with April 2024. The average cost of their trips excluding fares in April 2025 was €711, whereas the average cost 12 months previously was €761.
| Inbound Tourism, April 2025 versus April 2024 | ||||
| Apr-24 | Apr-25 | Change | ||
| Visitors ('000s) | 549.2 | 528.1 | -21.1 | -3.8% |
| Nights ('000s) | 3,487.7 | 3,436.7 | -51.0 | -1.5% |
| Average length of stay (nights) | 6.4 | 6.5 | 0.1 | 2.5% |
| Expenditure - excluding fares (€million) | 418.2 | 375.4 | -42.8 | -10.2% |
| Mean expenditure - excluding fares (€) | 761 | 711 | -50 | -6.6% |
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Jan | 400 | 451.9 | 338.9 |
| Feb | 337 | 433.3 | 304.3 |
| Mar | 425.2 | 521.8 | 441.2 |
| Apr | 461.9 | 549.1 | 528.1 |
| May | 573.3 | 622.3 | |
| Jun | 619.9 | 669.5 | |
| Jul | 650.2 | 655.4 | |
| Aug | 737.6 | 763.6 | |
| Sep | 582.1 | 578.1 | |
| Oct | 577.4 | 548.1 | |
| Nov | 447.5 | 407.7 | |
| Dec | 445.2 | 390.7 |
In total, 1,949,400 passengers departed Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025, a 12.1% increase compared with April 2024. The majority of departing passengers (64.2%) were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes. A further 8.8% were same day visitors, comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound via an airport or seaport in Ireland (3.7%), foreign resident transfer passengers (3.7%), or other foreign resident same day visitors (1.3%). Some 27.1% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 528,100 visitors in total. The remainder of this release focuses exclusively on the characteristics and activities of these foreign resident overnight visitors (referred to simply as foreign visitors).
Of the 528,100 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025, the highest proportion (40.6%) was from Great Britain, accounting for 214,200 of the visitors in total. The second highest proportion (17.6%) was from the United States, accounting for 93,200 visitors. The third highest proportion (6.9%) came from Germany comprising a further 36,300 visitors. By way of comparison, in April 2024 there were 210,900 visitors from Great Britain, 89,300 from the United States, and 40,000 from Germany.
Foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025 spent a total of 3,436,700 nights in the country. Broken down by residency, the Other Europe visitors (i.e. European overseas visitors excluding Great Britain) spent more nights in the country than any other residency group, accounting for 1,339,900 (39.0%) of the nights. The next most important visitor group, in terms of nights spent, was Great Britain, making up 959,000 (27.9%) of the total nights. Visitors from the United States of America & Canada were third most important, accounting for a further 856,300 (24.9%) of the nights. Other visitors made up 281,400 (8.2%) of the nights. Compared with April 2024, the total visitor nights in the country fell by 1.5%. The average length of stay increased, from 6.4 nights in April 2024 to 6.5 nights in April 2025.
A revision was made on 29 May 2025 to Table 3. It was previously reported that there were 1,399,900 bednights spent in Ireland for the Other Europe category in April 2025. The figure has been revised to 1,339,900. No other results in this tourism series are affected.
Among the 528,100 foreign visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025, more had come for holiday than for any other reason. Some 211,200 (40.0%) had holiday as the main reason for their trip. The next most likely reason was for visiting family and friends, with 200,400 (38.0%) of the visitors coming for this purpose. A further 73,900 (14.0%) of the visitors had come for business or work-related reasons. Compared with April 2024, visitors visiting for holiday fell by 7.7%, visiting family and friends rose by 1.8%, and those visiting for business or work fell by 14.7%.
Among the 528,100 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025, some 222,400 (42.1%) stayed in their own property or with family and friends. Another 217,800 (41.2%) of the visitors stayed in a hotel. A further 27,800 (5.3%) of the visitors used rented/self-catering as their main accommodation type, while 26,300 (5.0%) of the foreign visitors used guest house/bed & breakfast as their main accommodation type. By way of comparison, in April 2024 some 215,400 visitors stayed in their own property or with family and friends, 252,300 stayed in a hotel, 25,900 stayed in rented/self-catering accommodation and 24,300 used guest house/bed & breakfast types.
Foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025 spent a total of €375.4 million, excluding fares, on their trips (a decrease of 10.2% compared with April 2024).
The total amount spent by foreign visitors (including fares) was €525.4 million. Broken down by expense category, the costliest subheading was day-to-day spending (incidental expenditures incurred during their visit such as eating out, entrance fees, public transport, etc., but excluding accommodation), amounting to €210.1 million (40.0% of the total expenditure). The next costliest subheading was accommodation at €147.8 million (28.1% of the total). Fares cost a further €150 million (28.5% of the total). Lastly, prepayments (items paid in advance, such as car hire, pre-booked tickets, etc.) comprised just €17.5 million (3.3% of the total).
Overall, in April 2025 the typical foreign visitor spent €995 (€711 excluding fares) on their trip to Ireland, breaking down as €284 on their fare, €33 on prepayments, €280 on accommodation, and €398 on day-to-day expenses. In April 2024, the comparable mean expenditure on these items was €272, €30, €331, and €400 respectively.
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Jan | 231.1 | 297 | 214 |
| Feb | 217.7 | 283.7 | 195.6 |
| Mar | 323.4 | 417 | 325.7 |
| Apr | 370.7 | 418.2 | 375.4 |
| May | 477.4 | 602.9 | |
| Jun | 601 | 684.4 | |
| Jul | 621.3 | 649.9 | |
| Aug | 733.2 | 820.1 | |
| Sep | 600 | 676.9 | |
| Oct | 515.8 | 534.3 | |
| Nov | 333.8 | 315.9 | |
| Dec | 412.9 | 328.6 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (29 May 2025) published Inbound Tourism April 2025.
Commenting on the release, Gregg Patrick, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said:
“The results show that 528,100 foreign visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in April 2025, a decrease of 4% compared with April 2024 and an increase of 14% compared with April 2023.
In April 2025, the largest contingent of visitors came from Great Britain (41%), followed by visitors from the United States (18%). Further analysis shows that visitors from Great Britain were up 2% compared with April 2024, while visitors from all other areas were down. Visitors from Continental Europe were down 8%, visitors from North America (-1%), and visitors from the Rest of the World (-22%). However, when compared with April 2023, visitors from Great Britain were up 13%, from the United States (+8%), from Continental Europe (+28%), and from the rest of the world (+26%).
The visitors' expenditure in Ireland (excluding fares) was €375 million. Visitors from Great Britian accounted for €96 million (26%) of this spend, Continental Europe for €134 million (36%), North America for €121 million (32%), and visitors from the Rest of the World for €25 million (7%). Taken together, this represented a fall of 10% compared with April 2024, and a rise of 1% compared with April 2023.
The visitors most frequent reason for their journey was for holiday or leisure (40%). Their second most frequent reason was to visit friends or relatives (38%). More of the visitors stayed with family or in their own property (42%) than in any other accommodation type, and the typical visit lasted 6.5 nights.”