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Transport

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This chapter presents information on the transport sector of the Irish economy. The transport tables cover new vehicles by taxation class and by local authority, goods carried by road, vessels and goods handled by Irish ports, and passengers and freight passing through Irish airports. 

19.1 New motor vehicles licensed for the first time by taxation class
 
Number
Taxation class20082009201020112012201320142015
 
Private cars 146,47054,43284,90786,93276,25671,34892,361121,110
Goods vehicles31,45910,05110,51011,18810,85511,02416,25422,939
Tractors4,1541,8831,3591,7311,9964,4032,1861,986
Motor cycles 3,1941,8791,3211,1029558789601,244
Exempt vehicles6,2863,6904,2074,0143,9303,9554,7625,234
Public service vehicles 1,614493306297531378517761
    Small893190193195275160237343
    Large721303113102256218280418
Machines or contrivances906409222294409606399409
Other classes 734288244203161295213167
         
Total 194,81773,125103,076105,76195,09392,887117,652153,850
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

There were 121,110 new private cars licensed in 2015, a rise of 31.1% compared with 2014. This was the highest number of new cars licensed since 2008. In total, there were 153,850 new vehicles licensed during 2015 and this was up 30.8% on 2014.

19.2 New vehicles licensed for the first time by licensing authority
         
Number
Licensing authority20082009201020112012201320142015
         
Carlow 2,6199591,3711,3571,1491,1521,4611,828
Cavan2,6769291,2851,3151,1531,1121,4051,927
Clare4,4701,4512,3562,3771,8691,7952,4313,305
Cork25,02610,03114,54414,38511,14110,70613,79418,964
Donegal4,4651,8282,9092,5152,1932,0512,7233,643
Dublin60,15924,07030,99734,50134,26833,66842,04854,021
Galway8,4032,9404,5604,5713,7013,6704,4936,481
Kerry4,5131,6942,7052,5082,1931,9532,5543,420
Kildare8,6972,9024,1524,2673,6933,7674,9276,503
Kilkenny3,9101,4172,0722,1431,8641,8252,2132,923
Laois3,0349741,4081,4161,1311,1921,3991,826
Leitrim940355529542450445521740
Limerick8,5773,4574,4954,8733,7133,3714,4965,663
Longford1,381519677723602552655858
Louth4,7251,8182,5622,4692,0671,8242,5683,393
Mayo4,3141,5862,2932,1951,9611,9292,3113,085
Meath7,6412,5533,5843,3982,9332,8543,6825,006
Monaghan2,0717191,1381,1109799471,1161,525
Offaly3,0389521,4171,3031,2231,2271,4851,939
Roscommon3,2771,4492,1422,3693,2033,7174,2534,877
Sligo2,3599071,2801,2461,0639841,2201,572
Tipperary6,5662,2763,3883,3343,0032,7823,4814,407
Waterford6,4041,9252,9853,0292,8012,5303,6364,457
Westmeath 3,1471,1402,0411,8421,6891,7292,0842,595
Wexford 7,1212,4813,6363,6573,0313,1724,1335,379
Wicklow 5,2841,7932,5502,3162,0201,9332,5633,513
         
Total194,81773,125103,076105,76195,09392,887117,652153,850
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

In 2015, 35.1% (54,021) of all new vehicles were licensed for the first time in Dublin City and County Councils, while a further 12.3% (18,964) were licensed in the Cork licensing authority.

This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
19.3 Key indicators for transport of goods by road
 
 20082009201020112012201320142015
  
Tonnes carried (thousand)245,788148,328125,865110,260108,078108,831112,499118,059
Tonnes-kilometres (million)17,28912,07110,9249,9419,8959,1389,7729,844
Vehicle kilometres (million)2,2071,5851,4571,3381,3161,2611,3071,302
Average number of vehicles97,64087,61684,02581,17879,97176,96783,65087,094
Laden journeys (thousand)20,08512,65911,17710,16810,0579,92510,09410,279
Source: CSO

Interactive table: Statbank link

Irish registered goods vehicles carried 118.1 million tonnes of goods on 10.3 million laden journeys in 2015 and the amount of freight activity, as measured by tonnes-kilometers, was 9.8 billion.

The average number of registered goods vehicles in the State was an estimated 87,094 and these vehicles travelled a total of 1.3 billion kilometers. This is the largest fleet since 2009 when 87,616 vehicles were registered.

19.4 Statistics of port traffic - number of vessel arrivals, tonnage of goods handled by type of cargo and area of trade
 
Category of traffic20082009201020112012201320142015
Number of vessels by type
Liquid bulk1,5891,3441,3491,1381,0601,0279851,029
Dry bulk1,4651,0681,1431,0881,144773585588
Container2,2431,9861,6781,4181,4031,2621,2051,204
Specialised2431218510511399121200
General8,9928,5128,8138,0127,8978,5549,1259,018
Passenger197192243298193225183203
Total number of vessels14,72913,22313,31112,05911,81011,94012,20412,242
         
Tonnage of goods by type of cargo ('000)       
Roll-on/roll-off traffic12,08010,92812,25612,06611,60912,14513,10413,907
Lift-on/lift-off traffic7,9456,6596,4576,3116,1516,2046,6466,983
Liquid bulk13,31512,10012,01911,80413,41711,54111,34512,438
Dry bulk 15,90511,18513,43513,93215,04215,94815,12815,866
Break bulk and all other goods1,8369649049658708831,2611,472
Total tonnage of goods handled51,08141,83645,07145,07847,08846,72247,48350,666
         
Tonnage of goods by area of trade ('000)       
Great Britain & Northern Ireland19,94916,95718,00219,27916,88717,02817,41819,721
Other EU17,33414,26714,94814,11115,41315,94415,49516,370
Non-EU2,9672,7493,3552,0491,5792,7692,3633,622
Other ports8,9085,9137,0287,5558,9928,1679,2838,617
Coastal trade1,9231,9501,7382,0854,2172,8142,9242,336
Total tonnage of goods handled51,08141,83645,07145,07847,64946,72247,48350,666
Source: CSO

Interactive tables: StatBank link

In 2015, a total of 12,242 vessels arrived at Irish ports, a marginal increase of 0.3% on 2014. General cargo vessels accounted for almost three quarters (73.7%) of total arrivals.

Irish ports handled 50.7 million tonnes of goods in 2015, an annual increase of 6.7%. Great Britain and Northern Ireland remained the main areas of trade for Irish sea ports, accounting for almost two fifths (38.9%) of all goods handled in 2015.

19.5 Key indicators for the five main airports
 
'000
Category of traffic20082009201020112012201320142015
Dublin
Passengers 23,507.220,507.418,426.818,749.119,090.820,148.621,694.924,962.5
Freight (tonnes)107.397.3105.3101.9111.1113.5127.4137.3
Commercial flights202.5169.9156.2159.0158.5162.0173.0188.8
         
Cork
Passengers3,259.12,767.82,422.92,356.62,333.62,252.62,138.12,065.7
Freight (tonnes)4.00.90.80.80.70.70.70.2
Commercial flights33.325.623.422.021.520.219.617.9
         
Shannon
Passengers2,956.32,579.71,531.31,364.81,286.11,308.21,555.21,680.3
Freight (tonnes)23.218.920.016.616.113.910.912.3
Commercial flights25.021.213.413.612.712.615.616.7
         
Knock
Passengers630.8606.5586.4653.6677.4665.6703.7684.7
Freight (tonnes)0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Commercial flights5.86.05.76.16.46.26.25.2
         
Kerry
Passengers426.1356.7383.9310.9286.4306.0295.0303.0
Freight (tonnes)0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Commercial flights6.74.84.43.13.33.53.23.1
         
Total        
Passengers30,779.526,818.123,351.323,435.023,674.324,681.026,386.929,696.2
Freight (tonnes)134.5117.1126.1119.3127.9128.1139.0149.8
Commercial flights273.3227.5203.1203.8202.4204.5217.6231.6
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

In 2015, 29.7 million passengers passed through Ireland's five main airports, an increase of 12.5% over the previous year. 

Almost 232,000 commercial flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2015.  Dublin accounted for 81.5% of all flights (188,800), while Cork handled 7.7% of all flights (17,900).

Ireland's five main airports handled a total of 149,800 tonnes of freight in 2015, and this represented an annual increase of 7.8%.

Dublin airport accounted for 76.4% of all passengers passing through Ireland's main airports in 2008. This had increased to 84.1% by 2015.

 

Go to next chapter >>> Agriculture

Percentage share of total passengers by main airport, 2008
Dublin76.4
Cork10.6
Shannon9.6
Knock2
Kerry1.4
Percentage share of total passengers by main airport, 2015
Dublin84.1
Cork7
Shannon5.7
Knock2.3
Kerry1