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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, goods handled by Irish ports and passengers and freight carried by Irish airports. 

19.1 New motor vehicles licensed for the first time by taxation class Number
Taxation class200520062007200820092010201120122013
         
Private cars 166,270173,273180,754146,47054,43284,90786,93276,25671,348
Goods vehicles38,39643,61946,04331,45910,05110,51011,18810,85511,024
Tractors3,1683,6874,4424,1541,8831,3591,7311,9964,403
Motor cycles 3,2403,2063,5223,1941,8791,3211,102955878
Exempt vehicles4,8516,1697,4226,2863,6904,2074,0143,9303,955
Public service vehicles 1,4001,7321,9561,614493306297531378
    Small9021,0331,283893190193195275160
    Large498699673721303113102256218
Machines or contrivances1,3591,3271,445906409222294409606
Other classes 600714862734288244203161295
          
Total 219,284233,727246,446194,81773,125103,076105,76195,09392,887
          
Source: CSO         

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

There were 71,348 new private cars licensed in the year to the end of December 2013, a fall of 6.4% compared to the same period in 2012. In total, there were 92,887 new vehicles licensed during 2013 and this was down 2.3% on 2012.

19.2 New vehicles licensed for the first time by licensing authority Number
Licensing authority20052006200720082009       2010201120122013
          
Carlow 2,5232,9193,2682,6199591,3711,3571,1491,152
Cavan2,9893,2413,4652,6769291,2851,3151,1531,112
Clare4,7835,1195,5264,4701,4512,3562,3771,8691,795
Donegal5,0245,4466,0144,4651,8282,9092,5152,1932,051
Galway9,46310,26510,8398,4032,9404,5604,5713,7013,670
Kerry4,8655,4125,6514,5131,6942,7052,5082,1931,953
Kildare10,00410,65111,1308,6972,9024,1524,2673,6933,767
Kilkenny4,0534,4154,9963,9101,4172,0722,1431,8641,825
Laois3,0283,1343,5093,0349741,4081,4161,1311,192
Leitrim9941,1821,223940355529542450445
Limerick County6,8887,5258,1936,1902,1793,4123,4483,1292,850
Longford1,4941,5231,7761,381519677723602552
Louth5,1505,6476,0184,7251,8182,5622,4692,0671,824
Mayo5,4585,9625,7804,3141,5862,2932,1951,9611,929
Meath8,9339,4569,9967,6412,5533,5843,3982,9332,854
Monaghan2,3812,7262,7052,0717191,1381,110979947
Offaly3,2443,5163,7513,0389521,4171,3031,2231,227
Roscommon3,6703,5334,1543,2771,4492,1422,3693,2033,717
Sligo2,6572,8352,9182,3599071,2801,2461,063984
Tipperary North 3,1763,9824,2953,5741,2611,9582,1051,8841,692
Tipperary South3,6853,5113,7532,9921,0151,4301,2291,1191,090
Waterford County2,5103,2403,6372,7469961,7391,6121,3421,355
Westmeath 3,5374,0284,2013,1471,1402,0411,8421,6891,729
Wexford 7,5168,9278,7897,1212,4813,6363,6573,0313,172
Wicklow 5,8126,3986,7825,2841,7932,5502,3162,0201,933
Cork County and    
      City Council28,56830,11431,76725,02610,03114,54414,38511,14110,706
Dublin County and   
      City Council70,49272,99776,71660,15924,07030,99734,50134,26833,668
Limerick City        
        Council2,2592,0221,9402,3871,2781,0831,425584521
Waterford City       
        Council4,1284,0013,6543,6589291,2461,4171,4591,175
          
Total219,284233,727246,446194,81773,125103,076105,76195,09392,887
          
Source: CSO         

Interactive tables: StatBank link

 

In 2013, 36.2% (33,668) of all new vehicles licensed for the first time were in Dublin County and City Councils, followed by Cork County and City Councils with 11.5% (10,706). The least amount of all new vehicles licensed for the first time was by Leitrim County Council with 445 new vehicles.

This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
19.3 Key indicators for transport of goods by road    
 200520062007200820092010201120122013
  
Tonnes carried (thousand)291,883299,030299,307245,788148,328125,865110,260108,078108,831
Tonnes-kilometres (million)17,81917,32218,70717,28912,07110,9249,9419,8959,138
Vehicle kilometres (million)2,3122,2422,3322,2071,5851,4571,3381,3161,261
Average number of vehicles79,91687,13597,75297,64087,61684,02581,17879,97176,967
Laden journeys (thousand)22,42523,24823,64620,08512,65911,17710,16810,0579,925
          
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

Irish registered goods vehicles carried 108.8 million tonnes of goods on 9.9 million laden journeys in 2013 and the amount of freight activity, as measured by tonnes-kilometers, was 9.1 million.

The average number of registered goods vehicles in the State was 76,967 and these vehicles travelled a total of 1.3 billion kilometers.

19.4 Statistics of port traffic - number of vessel arrivals, tonnage of goods handled by type of cargo and area of trade
          
Category of traffic200520062007200820092010201120122013
Number of vessels by type
Liquid bulk1,9781,9491,7131,5891,3441,3491,1381,0601,027
Dry bulk1,3331,2651,2121,4651,0681,1431,0881,144773
Container2,6182,6582,7952,2431,9861,6781,4181,4031,262
Specialised3813063082431218510511399
General9,9199,7229,9348,9928,5128,8138,0127,8978,554
Passenger202142123197192243298193225
Total number of vessels16,43116,04216,08514,72913,22313,31112,05911,81011,940
          
Tonnage of goods by type of cargo ('000)         
Roll-on/roll-off traffic11,81611,91512,54712,08010,92812,25612,06611,60512,145
Lift-on/lift-off traffic7,8038,4728,8767,9456,6596,4576,3116,7166,204
Liquid bulk14,75914,30114,34813,31512,10012,01911,80413,41711,541
Dry bulk 15,58916,21515,82215,90511,18513,43513,93215,04215,948
Break bulk and all other goods2,1792,4152,5481,836964904965870883
Total tonnage of goods handled52,14653,31854,13951,08141,83645,07145,07847,64946,722
          
Tonnage of goods by area of trade ('000)         
Great Britain & Northern Ireland20,49919,88220,35119,94916,95718,00219,27916,95417,028
Other EU15,92717,34318,11817,33414,26714,94814,11115,90315,944
Non-EU4,6695,1884,4822,9672,7493,3552,0491,5792,769
Other ports9,1828,9569,2648,9085,9137,0287,5558,9958,167
Coastal trade1,8701,9501,9251,9231,9501,7382,0854,2182,814
Total tonnage of goods handled52,14653,31854,13951,08141,83645,07145,07847,64946,722
          
Source: CSO         

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

In 2013, 11,940 vessels arrived at Irish ports and this showed a slight increase on 2012. General cargo vessels accounted for 72% of total arrivals.

Irish ports handled 46.7 million tonnes of goods in 2013 and this was 1.9% less than in 2012. Great Britain and Northern Ireland remain the main areas of trade for Irish sea ports accounting for 36.4% of all goods handled in 2013.

19.5 Key indicators for the five main airports
        '000
Category of traffic200520062007200820092010201120122013
Dublin
Passengers 18,504.821,265.923,375.723,507.220,507.418,426.818,749.119,090.820,148.6
Freight (tonnes)64.1107.2111.0107.397.3105.3101.9111.1113.5
Commercial flights169.6183.4202.9202.5169.9156.2159.0158.5162.0
          
Cork
Passengers2,747.23,023.53,193.73,259.12,767.82,422.92,356.62,333.62,252.6
Freight (tonnes)7.07.25.54.00.90.80.80.70.7
Commercial flights33.233.335.433.325.623.422.021.520.2
          
Shannon
Passengers3,268.33,690.93,524.52,956.32,579.71,531.31,364.81,286.11,308.2
Freight (tonnes)29.331.127.023.218.920.016.616.113.9
Commercial flights25.127.126.725.021.213.413.612.712.6
          
Knock
Passengers524.6608.3544.0630.8606.5586.4653.6677.4665.6
Freight (tonnes)0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Commercial flights5.15.54.85.86.05.76.16.46.2
          
Kerry
Passengers385.8392.6391.1426.1356.7383.9310.9286.4306.0
Freight (tonnes)0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Commercial flights6.96.05.86.74.84.43.13.33.5
          
Source: CSO         

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

In 2013, almost 25 million passengers passed through Ireland's five main airports, an increase of 4.3% in these airports over the previous year. 

Just over 204,000 commercial flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2013.  Dublin accounted for 79.2% of all flights (161,976) while Cork handled almost 10% of all flights (20,173).

Ireland's five main airports handled a total of 128.1 thousand tonnes of freight in 2013.

Dublin airport accounted for 72.8% of all passengers passing through Ireland's main airports in 2005. This had increased to 81.6% by 2013. 

 

Go to next chapter >>> Agriculture Holdings

Passengers
Dublin72.7655943406984
Cork10.8026912353966
Shannon12.8517893726873
Knock2.06286103017219
Kerry1.51706402104543
Passengers
Dublin81.6360763340221
Cork9.12685871723188
Shannon5.30043353186662
Knock2.69681131234553
Kerry1.23982010453385