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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 Class200620072008200920102011201220132014
 
Private cars 173,273180,754146,47054,43284,90786,93276,25671,34892,361
Goods vehicles43,61946,04331,45910,05110,51011,18810,85511,02416,254
Tractors3,6874,4424,1541,8831,3591,7311,9964,4032,186
Motor cycles 3,2063,5223,1941,8791,3211,102955878960
Exempt vehicles6,1697,4226,2863,6904,2074,0143,9303,9554,762
Public service vehicles 1,7321,9561,614493306297531378517
    Small1,0331,283893190193195275160237
    Large699673721303113102256218280
Machines or contrivances1,3271,445906409222294409606399
Other classes 714862734288244203161295213
          
Total 233,727246,446194,81773,125103,076105,76195,09392,887117,652
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

There were 92,361 new private cars licensed in 2014, a rise of 29.5% compared to 2013. This represented the first increase since 2011 and was the highest number of new cars licensed since 2008. In total, there were 117,652 new vehicles licensed during 2014 and this was up 26.7% on 2013.

19.2 New vehicles licensed for the first time by licensing authority
          
Number
Licensing authority2006200720082009       20102011201220132014
          
Carlow 2,9193,2682,6199591,3711,3571,1491,1521,461
Cavan3,2413,4652,6769291,2851,3151,1531,1121,405
Clare5,1195,5264,4701,4512,3562,3771,8691,7952,431
Donegal5,4466,0144,4651,8282,9092,5152,1932,0512,723
Galway10,26510,8398,4032,9404,5604,5713,7013,6704,493
Kerry5,4125,6514,5131,6942,7052,5082,1931,9532,554
Kildare10,65111,1308,6972,9024,1524,2673,6933,7674,927
Kilkenny4,4154,9963,9101,4172,0722,1431,8641,8252,213
Laois3,1343,5093,0349741,4081,4161,1311,1921,399
Leitrim1,1821,223940355529542450445521
Limerick County7,5258,1936,1902,1793,4123,4483,1292,8504,093
Longford1,5231,7761,381519677723602552655
Louth5,6476,0184,7251,8182,5622,4692,0671,8242,568
Mayo5,9625,7804,3141,5862,2932,1951,9611,9292,311
Meath9,4569,9967,6412,5533,5843,3982,9332,8543,682
Monaghan2,7262,7052,0717191,1381,1109799471,116
Offaly3,5163,7513,0389521,4171,3031,2231,2271,485
Roscommon3,5334,1543,2771,4492,1422,3693,2033,7174,253
Sligo2,8352,9182,3599071,2801,2461,0639841,220
Tipperary North 3,9824,2953,5741,2611,9582,1051,8841,6922,350
Tipperary South3,5113,7532,9921,0151,4301,2291,1191,0901,131
Waterford County3,2403,6372,7469961,7391,6121,3421,3551,796
Westmeath 4,0284,2013,1471,1402,0411,8421,6891,7292,084
Wexford 8,9278,7897,1212,4813,6363,6573,0313,1724,133
Wicklow 6,3986,7825,2841,7932,5502,3162,0201,9332,563
Cork County and     
      City Council30,11431,76725,02610,03114,54414,38511,14110,70613,794
Dublin County and  
      City Council72,99776,71660,15924,07030,99734,50134,26833,66842,048
Limerick City        
        Council2,0221,9402,3871,2781,0831,425584521403
Waterford City        
        Council4,0013,6543,6589291,2461,4171,4591,1751,840
          
Total233,727246,446194,81773,125103,076105,76195,09392,887117,652
Source: CSO
 

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

 In 2014, 35.7% (42,048) of all new vehicles licensed for the first time were in Dublin County and City Councils, followed by Cork County and City Councils with 11.7% (13,794).

This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
19.3 Key indicators for transport of goods by road
        
 200620072008200920102011201220132014
  
Tonnes carried (thousand)299,030299,307245,788148,328125,865110,260108,078108,831112,499
Tonnes-kilometres (million)17,32218,70717,28912,07110,9249,9419,8959,1389,772
Vehicle kilometres (million)2,2422,3322,2071,5851,4571,3381,3161,2611,307
Average number of vehicles87,13597,75297,64087,61684,02581,17879,97176,96783,650
Laden journeys (thousand)23,24823,64620,08512,65911,17710,16810,0579,92510,094
Source: CSO

Interactive table: Statbank link

 

Irish registered goods vehicles carried 112.5 million tonnes of goods on 10.1 million laden journeys in 2014 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 83,650 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 traffic200620072008200920102011201220132014
Number of vessels by type
Liquid bulk1,9491,7131,5891,3441,3491,1381,0601,027985
Dry bulk1,2651,2121,4651,0681,1431,0881,144773585
Container2,6582,7952,2431,9861,6781,4181,4031,2621,205
Specialised3063082431218510511399121
General9,7229,9348,9928,5128,8138,0127,8978,5549,125
Passenger142123197192243298193225183
Total number of vessels16,04216,08514,72913,22313,31112,05911,81011,94012,204
          
Tonnage of goods by type of cargo ('000)         
Roll-on/roll-off traffic11,91512,54712,08010,92812,25612,06611,60512,14513,104
Lift-on/lift-off traffic8,4728,8767,9456,6596,4576,3116,7166,2046,646
Liquid bulk14,30114,34813,31512,10012,01911,80413,41711,54111,345
Dry bulk 16,21515,82215,90511,18513,43513,93215,04215,94815,128
Break bulk and all other goods2,4152,5481,8369649049658708831,261
Total tonnage of goods handled53,31854,13951,08141,83645,07145,07847,64946,72247,483
          
Tonnage of goods by area of trade ('000)         
Great Britain & Northern Ireland19,88220,35119,94916,95718,00219,27916,95417,02817,418
Other EU17,34318,11817,33414,26714,94814,11115,90315,94415,495
Non-EU5,1884,4822,9672,7493,3552,0491,5792,7692,363
Other ports8,9569,2648,9085,9137,0287,5558,9958,1679,283
Coastal trade1,9501,9251,9231,9501,7382,0854,2182,8142,924
Total tonnage of goods handled53,31854,13951,08141,83645,07145,07847,64946,72247,483
Source: CSO

Interactive tables: StatBank link

 

In 2014, 12,204 vessels arrived at Irish ports and this showed an increase of 2.2% on 2013. General cargo vessels accounted for almost three quarters (74.8%) of total arrivals.

Irish ports handled 47.5 million tonnes of goods in 2014 and this was 1.6% more than in 2013. Great Britain and Northern Ireland remain the main areas of trade for Irish sea ports accounting for 36.7% of all goods handled in 2014.

19.5 Key indicators for the five main airports
'000
Category of traffic200620072008200920102011201220132014
Dublin
Passengers 21,265.923,375.723,507.220,507.418,426.818,749.119,090.820,148.621,694.9
Freight (tonnes)107.2111.0107.397.3105.3101.9111.1113.5127.4
Commercial flights183.4202.9202.5169.9156.2159.0158.5162.0173.0
          
Cork
Passengers3,023.53,193.73,259.12,767.82,422.92,356.62,333.62,252.62,138.1
Freight (tonnes)7.25.54.00.90.80.80.70.70.7
Commercial flights33.335.433.325.623.422.021.520.219.6
          
Shannon
Passengers3,690.93,524.52,956.32,579.71,531.31,364.81,286.11,308.21,555.2
Freight (tonnes)31.127.023.218.920.016.616.113.910.9
Commercial flights27.126.725.021.213.413.612.712.615.6
          
Knock
Passengers608.3544.0630.8606.5586.4653.6677.4665.6703.7
Freight (tonnes)0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Commercial flights5.54.85.86.05.76.16.46.26.2
          
Kerry
Passengers392.6391.1426.1356.7383.9310.9286.4306.0295.0
Freight (tonnes)0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Commercial flights6.05.86.74.84.43.13.33.53.2
          
Total         
Passengers28,981.231,029.030,779.526,818.123,351.323,435.023,674.324,681.026,386.9
Freight (tonnes)145.5143.5134.5117.1126.1119.3127.9128.1139.0
Commercial flights255.3275.6273.3227.5203.1203.8202.4204.5217.6
          
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

 

 

In 2014, 26.4 million passengers passed through Ireland's five main airports, an increase of 6.9% over the previous year. 

Just over 217,000 commercial flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2014.  Dublin accounted for 79.5% of all flights (172,556) while Cork handled 9.0% of all flights (19,579).

Ireland's five main airports handled a total of 139.0 thousand tonnes of freight in 2014.

Dublin airport accounted for 73.4% of all passengers passing through Ireland's main airports in 2006. This had increased to 82.2% by 2014.

 

Go to next chapter >>> Holdings 

Percentage share of total passengers by main airport, 2006
Dublin73.4
Cork10.4
Shannon12.7
Knock2.1
Kerry1.4
Percentage share of total passengers by main airport, 2014
Dublin82.2
Cork8.1
Shannon5.9
Knock2.7
Kerry1.1

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