Some 338,900 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in January 2025, a decrease of 25.0% compared with January 2024.
The visitors spent €214 million on their trips (excluding fares), down 27.9% compared with January 2024.
The largest contingent of visitors came from Great Britain (44.1%), and the second largest came from the United States (12.7%).
The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was to visit family or friends (52.3%).
The visitors stayed a total of 2.8 million nights in the country, a drop of 25.7% when compared with January 2024.
The average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 8.4 nights, no change from January 2024.
The Inbound Tourism series estimates the number of overseas foreign resident visits to Ireland and the value of these visits to Ireland’s tourism industry. The series is based on the CSO Passenger Survey, which is carried out at Irish airports and seaports. Note that the Inbound Tourism series does not capture data on residents of Northern Ireland visiting Ireland as a tourism destination. However, the series does present estimates on the number of Northern Ireland resident trips to overseas destinations travelling via Ireland. The series also presents estimates of the number of trips made by Irish residents heading overseas (i.e. outbound tourism). To gain a better understanding of internal tourism in Ireland (i.e. both inbound and domestic tourism), users should refer to both Inbound Tourism (for inbound visitor data) and Household Travel Survey (for domestic travel data).
Foreign visitors in the context of this release refers to overseas residents who have stayed at least one night in Ireland. These overseas residents include both Irish and non-Irish nationals but specifically exclude residents of Northern Ireland.
Continental Europe, North America and the Rest of the World are referred to as ‘Other Europe (3)’, ‘USA & Canada’ and ‘Other Residencies’ respectively in the tables that follow.
Foreign visitors who depart Ireland via the airports and seaports of Northern Ireland are not captured in the survey.
Some 338,900 foreign residents completed their visits to Ireland in January 2025, a decrease of 25.0% compared with January 2024. These visitors spent 2.8 million nights in Ireland, a drop of 25.7% compared with the same month in 2024. The visitors’ average length of stay was 8.4 nights, the same as January 2024. The visitors spent €214.0 million on their trips, a decrease of 27.9% compared with January 2024. The average cost of their trips excluding fares in January 2025 was €632, whereas the average cost 12 months previously was €657.
| Inbound Tourism, January 2025 versus January 2024 | ||||
| Jan-24 | Jan-25 | Change | ||
| Visitors ('000s) | 451.9 | 338.9 | -113.0 | -25.0% |
| Nights ('000s) | 3,813.8 | 2,833.0 | -980.8 | -25.7% |
| Average length of stay (nights) | 8.4 | 8.4 | 0.0 | -1.0% |
| Expenditure - excluding fares (€million) | 297.0 | 214.0 | -83.0 | -27.9% |
| Mean expenditure - excluding fares (€) | 657 | 632 | -25 | -3.9% |
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Jan | 400 | 451.9 | 338.9 |
| Feb | 337 | 433.3 | |
| Mar | 425.2 | 521.8 | |
| Apr | 461.9 | 549.1 | |
| 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, 1,298,300 passengers departed Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025, an increase of 1.3% compared with January 2024. The majority of departing passengers (65.8%) were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes. A further 8.1% were same day visitors, comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound via an airport or seaport in the Republic of Ireland (3.8%), foreign resident transfer passengers (3.0%), or other foreign resident same day visitors (1.3%). Some 26.1% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 338,900 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 338,900 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025, the highest proportion (44.1%) was from Great Britain, accounting for 149,400 of the visitors in total. The second highest proportion (12.7%) was from the United States, accounting for 42,900 visitors. The third highest proportion (6.4%) came from Spain/Portugal comprising a further 21,800 visitors. By way of comparison, in January 2024 there were 191,200 visitors from Great Britain, 50,200 from the United States, and 21,800 from Spain/Portugal.
Foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025 spent a total of 2,833,000 nights in the country. Broken down by residency, the Other Europe visitors spent more nights in the country than any other residency group, accounting for 982,400 (34.7%) of the nights. The next most important visitor group, in terms of nights spent, was Great Britain, making up 856,000 (30.2%) of the total nights. Visitors from the United States of America & Canada were third most important, accounting for a further 528,600 (18.7%) of the nights. Other visitors made up 466,000 (16.4%) of the nights. Compared with January 2024, the total visitor nights in the country fell by 25.7%. The average length of stay was the same at 8.4 nights in January 2024 and January 2025.
Among the 338,900 foreign visitors departing Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025, more had come to visit family or friends than for any other reason. Some 177,200 (52.3%) had visiting family or friends as the main reason for their trip. The next most likely reason was for holiday, with 92,200 (27.2%) of the visitors coming for this purpose. A further 51,600 (15.2%) of the visitors had come for business or work-related reasons. Compared with January 2024, visitors visiting family or friends fell by 16.3%, visiting for holiday fell by 42.2%, and those visiting for business or work fell by 12.0%.
Among the 338,900 foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025, some 197,000 (58.1%) stayed in their own property or the property of family or friends. Another 111,500 (32.9%) of the visitors stayed in a hotel. A further 11,900 (3.5%) of the visitors used rented/self-catering as their main accommodation type, while 6,500 (1.9%) of the foreign visitors used guest house/bed & breakfast as their main accommodation type. By way of comparison, in January 2024 some 246,300 visitors stayed in their own property or the property of family and friends, 162,800 stayed in a hotel, 14,300 stayed in rented/self-catering accommodation and 11,300 used guest house/bed & breakfast types.
Foreign visitors who departed Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025 spent a total of €214.0 million, excluding fares, on their trips (a decrease of 27.9% compared with January 2024).
The total amount spent by foreign visitors (including fares) was €314.5 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 €146.0 million (46.4% of the total expenditure). The next costliest subheading was fares at €100.5 million (31.9% of the total). Accommodation cost a further €61.3 million (19.5% of the total). Lastly, prepayments (items paid in advance, such as car hire, pre-booked tickets, etc.) comprised just €6.8 million (2.2% of the total).
Overall, in January 2025 the typical foreign visitor spent €928 (€632 excluding fares) on their trip to Ireland, breaking down as €296 on their fare, €20 on prepayments, €181 on accommodation, and €431 on day-to-day expenses. In January 2024 the comparable mean expenditure on these items was €259, €24, €192, and €441 respectively.
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Jan | 231.1 | 297 | 214 |
| Feb | 217.7 | 283.7 | |
| Mar | 323.4 | 417 | |
| Apr | 370.7 | 418.2 | |
| 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 (27 February 2025) published Inbound Tourism January 2025.
Commenting on the release, Gregg Patrick, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said:
“The results show that 338,900 foreign visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in January 2025, a decrease of 25.0% compared with January 2024.
The visitors' expenditure in Ireland (i.e. excluding fares) was €214 million, a decrease of 27.9% compared with January 2024. However, the mean expenditure per visitor decreased by just 3.9% to €632.
The most important tourism market, in terms of revenue generated, was Continental Europe, accounting for 33.9% of all visitor expenditure. This was followed by Great Britain (30.4%), North America (22.3%), and the Rest of the World (13.5%).
The most frequent reason for their journey (52.3%) was to visit family or friends.
More of the visitors stayed in their own property or with family or friends (58.1%) than in any other accommodation type, and the typical visit lasted 8.4 nights.”