Pulse Survey now running Five years on, we're measuring the lasting impact of COVID-19 on our lives in our latest short Pulse Survey. CSO Pulse Surveys are anonymous and open to all. #CSOTakePart
In 2014, Irish registered goods vehicles made 10.1 million laden journeys and transported a total of 112.5 million tonnes of freight. Overall road freight activity was 9.8 billion tonne-kilometres.
The main commodities transported by Irish registered goods vehicles in terms of tonnes carried in 2014 were quarry products, metal ores & peat and foodstuffs. The greatest share (26.4%) of total freight activity in terms of tonne-kilometres related to the carriage of foodstuffs.
In 2014, there were 3,840 licensed hauliers in the State, a decrease of 0.3% on 2013.
X-axis label | Other companies | Transport companies |
---|---|---|
2005 | 219.5 | 84.4 |
2006 | 208.3 | 90.7 |
2007 | 190.5 | 108.9 |
2008 | 146.4 | 99.4 |
2009 | 81.9 | 66.5 |
2010 | 67 | 58.8 |
2011 | 55.4 | 54.8 |
2012 | 49.7 | 58.3 |
2013 | 47.9 | 60.9 |
2014 | 47.3 | 65.2 |
Table 6.1 Road freight transport statistics summary, 1999 - 2014 | |||||
Year | Tonne-kilometres | Tonnes carried | Vehicle kilometres | Average number of vehicles | Laden journeys |
Million | Thousand | Million | Number | Thousand | |
1999 | 10,228 | 162,355 | 1,416 | 56,090 | 14,014 |
2000 | 12,263 | 191,264 | 1,595 | 64,248 | 15,605 |
2001 | 12,291 | 199,829 | 1,585 | 70,825 | 15,770 |
2002 | 14,282 | 224,907 | 1,851 | 71,005 | 17,621 |
2003 | 15,679 | 251,791 | 1,966 | 71,459 | 19,709 |
2004 | 17,011 | 273,557 | 2,139 | 73,075 | 20,767 |
2005 | 17,819 | 291,883 | 2,312 | 79,916 | 22,425 |
2006 | 17,322 | 299,030 | 2,242 | 87,135 | 23,248 |
2007 | 18,707 | 299,307 | 2,332 | 97,752 | 23,646 |
2008 | 17,289 | 245,788 | 2,207 | 97,640 | 20,085 |
2009 | 12,071 | 148,328 | 1,585 | 87,616 | 12,659 |
2010 | 10,924 | 125,865 | 1,457 | 84,025 | 11,177 |
2011 | 9,941 | 110,260 | 1,338 | 81,178 | 10,168 |
2012 | 9,895 | 108,078 | 1,316 | 79,971 | 10,057 |
2013 | 9,138 | 108,831 | 1,261 | 76,967 | 9,925 |
2014 | 9,772 | 112,499 | 1,307 | 83,650 | 10,094 |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.2 Road freight transport activity classified by main type of work and main use of vehicle, 2014 | |||||||
Main type of work done by vehicle | Tonne-km (million) | Tonnes carried (thousand) | |||||
Own account | Hire or reward | Total | Own account | Hire or reward | Total | ||
Import/export work1 | 54 | 2,296 | 2,350 | 421 | 11,387 | 11,808 | |
Carriage of livestock | 41 | 77 | 118 | 660 | 642 | 1,302 | |
Carriage of other farm produce from farms | 74 | 243 | 317 | 1,242 | 3,496 | 4,738 | |
Carriage of fertilisers, feeding stuffs etc. to farms | 132 | 328 | 461 | 2,106 | 4,424 | 6,530 | |
Delivery of goods to road works or building sites | 454 | 520 | 975 | 15,383 | 15,738 | 31,121 | |
Delivery of goods to retail outlets | 399 | 1,160 | 1,558 | 4,602 | 10,199 | 14,801 | |
Delivery of goods to wholesalers | 251 | 812 | 1,063 | 2,186 | 6,604 | 8,789 | |
Delivery of materials and fuels to factories | 127 | 859 | 986 | 1,551 | 9,397 | 10,949 | |
Delivery of goods to households | 177 | 43 | 220 | 3,247 | 769 | 4,016 | |
Other work | 447 | 1,278 | 1,725 | 6,653 | 11,793 | 18,445 | |
Total | 2,156 | 7,616 | 9,772 | 38,052 | 74,448 | 112,499 | |
1 Includes work done to and from ports as well as roll-on/roll-off and cross-border work | |||||||
Source: CSO |
Table 6.3 Road freight transport activity classified by business of owner and main use of vehicle, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Business of owner of vehicle | Tonne-km (million) | Tonnes carried (thousand) | Loaded vehicle kilometres (million) | Total vehicle kilometres (million) | |||||||||||
Own account | Hire or reward | Total | Own account | Hire or reward | Total | Own account | Hire or reward | Total | Own account | Hire or reward | Total | ||||
Transport | 0 | 6,969 | 6,969 | 0 | 65,240 | 65,240 | 0 | 456 | 456 | 0 | 675 | 675 | |||
Manufacturing industry | 695 | 0 | 695 | 15,105 | 0 | 15,105 | 81 | 0 | 81 | 137 | 0 | 137 | |||
Mining & quarrying (incl. sand & gravel merchants) | 162 | 0 | 162 | 6,265 | 0 | 6,265 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 0 | 17 | |||
Creameries & agricultural cooperative societies | 14 | 0 | 14 | 235 | 0 | 235 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||
Manufacture of food & feeding stuffs | 198 | 0 | 198 | 2,384 | 0 | 2,384 | 29 | 0 | 29 | 44 | 0 | 44 | |||
Manufacture of drink & tobacco | 15 | 0 | 15 | 128 | 0 | 128 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |||
Manufacture of glass, cement & clay products | 191 | 0 | 191 | 4,702 | 0 | 4,702 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 23 | 0 | 23 | |||
Other manufacturing | 115 | 0 | 115 | 1,391 | 0 | 1,391 | 29 | 0 | 29 | 48 | 0 | 48 | |||
Building & construction | 89 | 0 | 89 | 3,105 | 0 | 3,105 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 35 | 0 | 35 | |||
Distribution | 939 | 502 | 1,441 | 12,323 | 7,238 | 19,561 | 175 | 40 | 215 | 256 | 62 | 318 | |||
Agriculture & livestock dealing | 118 | 28 | 146 | 1,893 | 370 | 2,263 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 35 | 5 | 39 | |||
Local authorities | 67 | 0 | 67 | 1,787 | 0 | 1,787 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 13 | |||
Other | 247 | 117 | 363 | 3,839 | 1,599 | 5,438 | 37 | 27 | 64 | 53 | 37 | 90 | |||
Total | 2,156 | 7,616 | 9,772 | 38,052 | 74,448 | 112,499 | 341 | 526 | 866 | 528 | 778 | 1,307 | |||
Source: CSO |
Table 6.4 Quantity of goods carried ('000 tonnes) and share of road freight activity (tonne-km) by business of owner, 2004-2014 | ||||||
Year | Business of owner | Total tonnes carried | ||||
Transport companies | Other companies | |||||
'000 tonnes carried | % share (tonne-km) | '000 tonnes carried | % share (tonne-km) | '000 tonnes carried | ||
2004 | 90,014 | 51.1 | 183,543 | 48.9 | 273,557 | |
2005 | 81,047 | 47.3 | 210,836 | 52.7 | 291,883 | |
2006 | 90,724 | 49.9 | 208,306 | 50.1 | 299,030 | |
2007 | 108,855 | 57.0 | 190,452 | 43.0 | 299,307 | |
2008 | 99,385 | 58.5 | 146,403 | 41.5 | 245,788 | |
2009 | 66,478 | 60.2 | 81,850 | 39.8 | 148,328 | |
2010 | 58,839 | 61.7 | 67,026 | 38.3 | 125,865 | |
2011 | 54,839 | 66.5 | 55,421 | 33.5 | 110,260 | |
2012 | 58,337 | 69.3 | 49,741 | 30.7 | 108,078 | |
2013 | 60,898 | 69.5 | 47,933 | 30.5 | 108,831 | |
2014 | 65,240 | 71.3 | 47,260 | 28.7 | 112,499 | |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.5 Transport activity classified by national/international journeys and main use of vehicle, 2014 | |||||||
Type of journey | Tonne-km (million) | Tonnes carried (thousand) | |||||
Own account | Hire or reward | Total | Own account | Hire or reward | Total | ||
National journeys | 2,048 | 5,626 | 7,674 | 37,232 | 68,982 | 106,214 | |
International journeys | |||||||
Goods loaded in Ireland | 65 | 800 | 865 | 457 | 2,093 | 2,550 | |
Goods unloaded in Ireland | 30 | 704 | 734 | 264 | 1,696 | 1,961 | |
Cross trade | 10 | 428 | 439 | 22 | 767 | 789 | |
Cabotage | 2 | 58 | 60 | 77 | 909 | 985 | |
Total international | 107 | 1,990 | 2,098 | 820 | 5,465 | 6,285 | |
Total journeys | 2,156 | 7,616 | 9,772 | 38,052 | 74,448 | 112,499 | |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.6 Road freight transport activity classified by region of origin and region of destination, 2014 | |||||||||||
Region of origin | Region of destination | Total | |||||||||
Border | Midland | West | Dublin | Mid-East | Mid-West | South-East | South-West | Northern | Other | ||
Ireland | countries | ||||||||||
Tonne-km (million) | |||||||||||
Border | 315 | 33 | 70 | 167 | 42 | 22 | 68 | 39 | 16 | 153 | 924 |
Midland | 59 | 149 | 45 | 61 | 33 | 30 | 65 | 48 | 3 | 29 | 521 |
West | 52 | 23 | 238 | 100 | 45 | 21 | 38 | 23 | 1 | 30 | 570 |
Dublin | 256 | 160 | 240 | 456 | 232 | 181 | 227 | 431 | 21 | 235 | 2,438 |
Mid-East | 62 | 34 | 41 | 155 | 214 | 39 | 66 | 39 | 9 | 35 | 694 |
Mid-West | 45 | 29 | 53 | 94 | 36 | 211 | 70 | 144 | 7 | 58 | 746 |
South-East | 53 | 50 | 42 | 174 | 100 | 69 | 428 | 251 | 19 | 153 | 1,339 |
South-West | 17 | 34 | 39 | 178 | 33 | 117 | 223 | 567 | 1 | 96 | 1,306 |
Northern Ireland | 11 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 56 |
Other countries | 115 | 23 | 18 | 284 | 39 | 22 | 112 | 74 | 7 | 482 | 1,177 |
Total | 985 | 538 | 796 | 1,676 | 773 | 713 | 1,310 | 1,617 | 88 | 1,276 | 9,772 |
Tonnes carried (thousand) | |||||||||||
Border | 7,248 | 307 | 563 | 1,320 | 509 | 94 | 315 | 127 | 211 | 525 | 11,219 |
Midland | 546 | 3,169 | 434 | 585 | 422 | 377 | 677 | 223 | 30 | 81 | 6,543 |
West | 574 | 232 | 5,388 | 501 | 239 | 203 | 184 | 111 | 2 | 57 | 7,491 |
Dublin | 1,961 | 1,439 | 1,092 | 13,707 | 5,604 | 921 | 1,525 | 1,724 | 113 | 844 | 28,929 |
Mid-East | 1,077 | 479 | 219 | 3,369 | 5,991 | 222 | 748 | 174 | 49 | 94 | 12,423 |
Mid-West | 171 | 259 | 420 | 489 | 226 | 6,098 | 743 | 1,701 | 21 | 82 | 10,210 |
South-East | 269 | 487 | 197 | 1,163 | 982 | 714 | 9,364 | 2,129 | 61 | 268 | 15,635 |
South-West | 56 | 166 | 206 | 712 | 146 | 1,008 | 1,646 | 12,261 | 2 | 111 | 16,315 |
Northern Ireland | 158 | 16 | 38 | 57 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 4 | 52 | 7 | 376 |
Other countries | 498 | 59 | 69 | 612 | 80 | 31 | 206 | 89 | 7 | 1,709 | 3,359 |
Total | 12,558 | 6,612 | 8,627 | 22,515 | 14,201 | 9,668 | 15,450 | 18,543 | 547 | 3,777 | 112,499 |
Vehicle kilometres (million) | |||||||||||
Border | 53 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 132 |
Midland | 7 | 22 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 76 |
West | 9 | 6 | 48 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 105 |
Dublin | 28 | 17 | 20 | 101 | 35 | 18 | 28 | 34 | 2 | 18 | 301 |
Mid-East | 9 | 6 | 6 | 34 | 35 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 117 |
Mid-West | 4 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 5 | 38 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 111 |
South-East | 5 | 6 | 4 | 28 | 13 | 10 | 64 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 165 |
South-West | 3 | 5 | 6 | 30 | 5 | 17 | 24 | 100 | 0 | 7 | 198 |
Northern Ireland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Other Countries | 9 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 41 | 97 |
Total | 129 | 76 | 107 | 295 | 118 | 109 | 164 | 199 | 7 | 102 | 1,307 |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.7 Road freight transport activity classified by country of origin and country of destination, 2014 | ||||||||||
Country of origin | Country of destination | Total | ||||||||
France | Germany | Ireland | Italy | Netherlands | Spain | United Kingdom | Other EU | Other countries1 | ||
Tonne-km (million) | ||||||||||
France | 0 | 6 | 83 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 132 |
Germany | 0 | 4 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 0 | 94 |
Ireland | 121 | 51 | 7,674 | 77 | 46 | 37 | 480 | 43 | 11 | 8,539 |
Italy | 6 | 0 | 68 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 108 |
Netherlands | 0 | 4 | 66 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 81 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
United Kingdom | 27 | 9 | 375 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 186 | 29 | 1 | 645 |
Other EU | 3 | 3 | 60 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 8 | 4 | 121 |
Other countries1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
Total | 157 | 79 | 8,408 | 94 | 60 | 45 | 824 | 90 | 16 | 9,772 |
Tonnes carried (thousand) | ||||||||||
France | 1 | 11 | 66 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 4 | 0 | 145 |
Germany | 0 | 16 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 6 | 0 | 102 |
Ireland | 115 | 41 | 106,214 | 46 | 50 | 21 | 2,230 | 38 | 9 | 108,764 |
Italy | 7 | 0 | 35 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 67 |
Netherlands | 0 | 7 | 74 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 104 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
United Kingdom | 42 | 17 | 1,681 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 1,359 | 31 | 1 | 3,160 |
Other EU | 4 | 6 | 44 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 11 | 3 | 117 |
Other countries1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
Total | 168 | 103 | 108,175 | 67 | 73 | 33 | 3,774 | 93 | 13 | 112,499 |
1 Includes any country which is not a member state of the EU | ||||||||||
Source: CSO |
Table 6.8 Road freight transport activity classified by group of goods and main use of vehicle, 2014 | |||||||
Group of goods (NST 2007) | Tonne-km (million) | Tonnes carried (thousand) | |||||
Own | Hire or | Total | Own | Hire or | Total | ||
account | reward | account | reward | ||||
Products of agriculture, forestry & fishing | 293 | 811 | 1,104 | 3,541 | 8,243 | 11,784 | |
Coal & natural gas | 12 | 34 | 45 | 183 | 364 | 547 | |
Quarry products, metal ores & peat | 319 | 542 | 862 | 11,625 | 14,185 | 25,810 | |
Foodstuffs | 403 | 2,174 | 2,577 | 4,916 | 16,345 | 21,261 | |
Textiles & leather | 22 | 87 | 109 | 203 | 592 | 795 | |
Wood, pulp & paper | 59 | 492 | 551 | 674 | 3,898 | 4,572 | |
Coke & refined petroleum products | 338 | 506 | 844 | 3,933 | 5,681 | 9,614 | |
Chemicals & plastics | 37 | 374 | 411 | 415 | 3,648 | 4,064 | |
Other non-metallic mineral products | 254 | 357 | 611 | 6,720 | 6,374 | 13,094 | |
Metal products (exc. machinery & equipment) | 33 | 243 | 276 | 505 | 1,634 | 2,139 | |
Machinery & equipment | 47 | 168 | 215 | 681 | 936 | 1,617 | |
Furniture & other manufactured goods | 44 | 95 | 139 | 481 | 760 | 1,241 | |
Secondary raw materials & waste | 144 | 144 | 288 | 2,244 | 2,136 | 4,380 | |
Other goods | 151 | 1,589 | 1,740 | 1,930 | 9,651 | 11,581 | |
Total | 2,156 | 7,616 | 9,772 | 38,052 | 74,448 | 112,499 | |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.9 Number of licensed road hauliers by county, 2007 - 2014 | ||||||||
Number | ||||||||
County | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Carlow | 118 | 124 | 118 | 110 | 93 | 86 | 82 | 80 |
Cavan | 129 | 128 | 124 | 108 | 107 | 93 | 89 | 87 |
Clare | 156 | 155 | 157 | 132 | 118 | 100 | 96 | 91 |
Cork | 580 | 609 | 605 | 549 | 516 | 471 | 461 | 460 |
Donegal | 174 | 184 | 179 | 178 | 168 | 158 | 160 | 154 |
Dublin | 660 | 702 | 680 | 626 | 581 | 549 | 522 | 534 |
Galway | 216 | 222 | 218 | 199 | 195 | 169 | 168 | 166 |
Kerry | 161 | 178 | 172 | 157 | 147 | 136 | 131 | 132 |
Kildare | 350 | 368 | 353 | 302 | 275 | 256 | 248 | 237 |
Kilkenny | 159 | 164 | 159 | 145 | 135 | 123 | 120 | 123 |
Laois | 147 | 148 | 142 | 130 | 118 | 108 | 108 | 109 |
Leitrim | 30 | 36 | 41 | 38 | 35 | 28 | 23 | 24 |
Limerick | 211 | 232 | 231 | 207 | 183 | 167 | 155 | 152 |
Longford | 50 | 56 | 54 | 51 | 47 | 42 | 40 | 39 |
Louth | 213 | 222 | 211 | 198 | 174 | 157 | 153 | 151 |
Mayo | 156 | 171 | 163 | 146 | 137 | 118 | 112 | 112 |
Meath | 328 | 340 | 323 | 286 | 252 | 218 | 217 | 218 |
Monaghan | 174 | 193 | 186 | 172 | 160 | 153 | 145 | 142 |
Offaly | 98 | 105 | 103 | 83 | 77 | 73 | 64 | 63 |
Roscommon | 92 | 99 | 99 | 91 | 87 | 80 | 78 | 79 |
Sligo | 84 | 82 | 80 | 78 | 73 | 64 | 61 | 54 |
Tipperary | 254 | 272 | 268 | 232 | 210 | 190 | 175 | 181 |
Waterford | 84 | 88 | 87 | 82 | 61 | 65 | 60 | 63 |
Westmeath | 84 | 94 | 89 | 80 | 71 | 66 | 64 | 65 |
Wexford | 287 | 292 | 270 | 243 | 225 | 213 | 215 | 214 |
Wicklow | 178 | 189 | 184 | 160 | 135 | 116 | 105 | 110 |
Total | 5,173 | 5,453 | 5,296 | 4,783 | 4,380 | 3,999 | 3,852 | 3,840 |
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport |
Go to next chapter >>> Aviation
Go to top>>
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.