In Q1 2022, a total of 40.8 million tonnes of goods was transported by road.
The commodity group 'Quarry products, metal ores & peat' represented nearly a third (30%) of all tonnes carried in Q1 2022.
In 2022, the total distance covered by road freight transport was 468 million kilometres.
| Road freight activity, Q12019-Q12022 | |||||
| Q12019 | Q12020 | Q12021 | Q12022 | % change | |
| Tonne-km (million) | 2,890 | 2,873 | 2,852 | 3,048 | 7% |
| Tonnes carried (thousand) | 36,579 | 36,596 | 34,343 | 40,764 | 19% |
| Vehicle kilometres (million) | 418 | 405 | 417 | 468 | 12% |
| Laden journeys (thousand) | 3,488 | 3,254 | 3,242 | 3,539 | 9% |
Figure 1 shows that in Q1 2022, a total of 40.8 million tonnes of goods were transported by road. This represents an increase of 19% compared with Q1 2021.
Figure 2 shows that goods vehicles involved in the 'Delivery of Goods to Road Works or Building Sites' carried 16.8 million in Q1 2022, which was the highest among all types of work carried out by goods vehicles.
Figure 3 shows that the commodity group 'Quarry Products, Metal Ores & Peat' represented nearly a third (30%) of all tonnes carried. This was the largest share among the categories of commodity groups in the survey.
Please note that the COVID-19 pandemic could impact on the yearly comparison of data. Ireland experienced full Level 5 restrictions in Q1 2021.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 August 2022) published results from the Road Freight Transport Survey for Q1 2022.
Commenting on the annual figures, Dr Nele van der Wielen, Statistician in the Transport Division, said: “The figures show an increase in the tonnes of goods transported by road. In Q1 2022, a total of 40.8 million tonnes of goods were transported by road, which represents an increase of 19% on the Q1 2021 total, and an increase of 11% when compared with 2019 (pre-COVID-19).
Activity measured as weight by distance, or tonne-kilometres (tkm), reached 3,048 million tkm in Q1 2022, an increase of 7% compared with Q1 2021.
The total distance covered by road freight transport in 2021 was 468 million kilometres. The commodity groups that were contributing most to vehicle kilometres were 'Foodstuffs' and the miscellaneous category 'Other Goods'.”
The largest amount of work undertaken by goods vehicles in Q1 2022 was the 'Delivery of Goods to Road Works or Building Sites' at 16.8 million tonnes, followed by 'Delivery of Goods to Retail Outlets' at 5,366 thousand tonnes.
The commodity group 'Quarry Products, Metal Ores & Peat' represented nearly a third (30%) of all tonnes carried. This was the largest share among the categories of commodity groups in the survey, followed by 'Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products' at 6,935 thousand tonnes.”