Total tonnes of goods handled by Irish ports was 51 million tonnes in 2024, an increase of 7% when compared with 2023.
Goods forwarded from Irish ports amounted to 15.6 million tonnes in 2024, down slightly when compared with 2023 (15,590 vs 15,672).
Goods received amounted to nearly 35.5 million tonnes in 2024, up 10% when compared with 2023 (35,473 vs 32,133).
During 2024, 11,958 vessels arrived in Irish ports, compared with 12,191 in 2023.
Dublin port accounted for 6,760 (57%) of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports in 2024.
Statistics of Port Traffic Quarter 4 and Year 2024 release contains both quarterly and annual tables. Users should note that the quarterly tables and annual tables cover different ports. Quarterly tables generally reflect activity at the seven main ports (Bantry Bay, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Rosslare, Shannon Foynes, and Waterford) while the annual tables reflect activity at all Irish ports. As a result, the sum of the four quarterly totals will be smaller than the annual total. This reason for this difference is the differing reporting requirements for compliance with European Regulation.
There are two exceptions where the quarterly and annual tables cover the same set of ports; Cork, Dublin and Rosslare in the case of Tables 3 and 3A; and Cork, Dublin and Waterford in the case of Tables 4 and 4A.
| Tonnage of goods handled by main Irish ports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023-2024 | |||||||
| '000 tonnes | |||||||
| Quarter 4 (main Irish ports) | Annual (all Irish ports) | ||||||
| Category of goods | 2023 | 2024 | % Change | 2023 | 2024 | % Change | |
| Liquid bulk | 2,515 | 2,202 | -12 | 10,687 | 9,912 | -7 | |
| Dry bulk | 3,062 | 3,506 | 15 | 11,921 | 15,018 | 26 | |
| Lift-on/lift-off | 2,034 | 2,226 | 9 | 7,817 | 8,887 | 14 | |
| Roll-on/roll-off | 3,895 | 3,844 | -1 | 15,952 | 15,768 | -1 | |
| Break bulk & other goods | 246 | 272 | 11 | 1,428 | 1,479 | 4 | |
| Total1 | 11,753 | 12,051 | 3 | 47,805 | 51,063 | 7 | |
| 1Figures may not sum due to rounding | |||||||
Figure 1 shows the tonnage of goods handled by Irish ports in 2024 increased in three categories, Lift-on/lift-off (+14%), Dry Bulk (+26%) and Break Bulk & Other Goods (+4%) compared with 2023. In the same period Liquid Bulk and Roll-on/Roll-off fell by 7% and 1% respectively.
Great Britain & Northern Ireland accounted for 32% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade in 2024, while EU countries accounted for 49% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports.
The majority of cruise ships arrived in Cork with 103 visiting, followed by Dún Laoghaire with 71 arrivals.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (31 March 2025) published Statistics of Port Traffic results for 2024.
Commenting on the annual figures, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Division, said: “Irish ports handled 51 million tonnes of goods in 2024. This is an increase of 7% compared with 2023. Goods forwarded from Irish ports amounted to 15.6 million tonnes in 2024, while a total of 35.5 million tonnes of goods were received (See Table 1A).
When looking at the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade in 2024, Great Britain & Northern Ireland accounted for 16,210 thousand tonnes of the total (32%). European Union countries accounted for 25,265 thousand tonnes (49%) of goods handled in the main ports (See Table 5A).
Vessel Analysis
In 2024 11,958 vessels arrived in Irish ports when compared with 12,191 in 2023 (See Table 2A).
Dublin port accounted for 6,760 (57%) vessel arrivals in Irish ports in 2024 and for 24,870 thousand tonnes (49%) of the total goods handled in all Irish ports. (See Tables 2A and 5A respectively).
Cruise ships
A total of 292 cruise ships arrived in Irish ports in 2024 compared with 272 in 2023. Cork had the highest number of cruise ship arrivals (103), followed by Dún Laoghaire (71) and Dublin (33). All cruise ships arrived between April and October 2024."