In 2015, Irish registered goods vehicles made 10.3 million laden journeys and transported a total of 118.1 million tonnes of freight. The overall amount of road freight activity was 9.8 billion tonne-kilometres in 2015, which was virtually unchanged from 2014.
The largest commodity group transported by Irish registered goods vehicles in terms of tonnes carried in 2015 was quarry products, metal ores & peat and foodstuffs (22.9%).The greatest share of total freight activity in terms of tonne-kilometres related to the carriage of foodstuffs (27.7%).
In 2015, there were 3,765 licensed hauliers in the State, a decrease of 2.0% on 2014.
X-axis label | Other companies | Transport companies |
---|---|---|
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 |
2015 | 51.1 | 67 |
Table 6.1 Road freight transport statistics summary, 2005 - 2015 | |||||
Year | Tonne-kilometres | Tonnes carried | Vehicle kilometres | Average number of vehicles | Laden journeys |
Million | Thousand | Million | Number | Thousand | |
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 |
2015 | 9,844 | 118,059 | 1,302 | 87,094 | 10,279 |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.2 Road freight transport activity classified by main type of work and main use of vehicle, 2015 | |||||||
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 | 55 | 2,280 | 2,335 | 397 | 11,463 | 11,860 | |
Carriage of livestock | 41 | 75 | 116 | 599 | 776 | 1,375 | |
Carriage of other farm produce from farms | 119 | 273 | 392 | 1,790 | 3,963 | 5,753 | |
Carriage of fertilisers, feeding stuffs etc. to farms | 106 | 299 | 404 | 1,872 | 4,254 | 6,126 | |
Delivery of goods to road works or building sites | 451 | 514 | 965 | 16,460 | 16,096 | 32,556 | |
Delivery of goods to retail outlets | 433 | 1,000 | 1,433 | 4,977 | 8,831 | 13,808 | |
Delivery of goods to wholesalers | 230 | 925 | 1,154 | 2,191 | 7,838 | 10,029 | |
Delivery of materials and fuels to factories | 175 | 954 | 1,129 | 2,716 | 10,413 | 13,129 | |
Delivery of goods to households | 148 | 51 | 199 | 2,932 | 604 | 3,536 | |
Other work | 576 | 1,140 | 1,716 | 8,387 | 11,501 | 19,888 | |
Total | 2,334 | 7,510 | 9,844 | 42,319 | 75,740 | 118,059 | |
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, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||
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 | 6,863 | 6,863 | 0 | 66,974 | 66,974 | 0 | 448 | 448 | 0 | 662 | 662 | ||||
Manufacturing industry | 723 | 0 | 723 | 18,120 | 0 | 18,120 | 80 | 0 | 80 | 133 | 0 | 133 | ||||
Mining & quarrying (incl. sand & gravel merchants) | 199 | 0 | 199 | 7,675 | 0 | 7,675 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 20 | ||||
Creameries & agricultural cooperative societies | 25 | 0 | 25 | 318 | 0 | 318 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
Manufacture of food & feeding stuffs | 161 | 0 | 161 | 2,211 | 0 | 2,211 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 40 | 0 | 40 | ||||
Manufacture of drink & tobacco | 3 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
Manufacture of glass, cement & clay products | 207 | 0 | 207 | 6,602 | 0 | 6,602 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 27 | 0 | 27 | ||||
Other manufacturing | 128 | 0 | 128 | 1,280 | 0 | 1,280 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 42 | 0 | 42 | ||||
Building & construction | 67 | 0 | 67 | 1,527 | 0 | 1,527 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 27 | 0 | 27 | ||||
Distribution | 1,144 | 503 | 1,647 | 15,541 | 7,179 | 22,720 | 183 | 41 | 224 | 281 | 61 | 342 | ||||
Agriculture & livestock dealing | 132 | 49 | 181 | 1,891 | 407 | 2,298 | 20 | 4 | 24 | 36 | 7 | 43 | ||||
Local authorities | 67 | 0 | 67 | 1,769 | 0 | 1,769 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 12 | ||||
Other | 200 | 96 | 295 | 3,470 | 1,180 | 4,650 | 29 | 29 | 58 | 44 | 39 | 83 | ||||
Total | 2,334 | 7,510 | 9,844 | 42,319 | 75,740 | 118,059 | 334 | 523 | 856 | 533 | 769 | 1,302 | ||||
Source: CSO |
Table 6.4 Quantity of goods carried ('000 tonnes) and share of road freight activity (tonne-km) by business of owner, 2005-2015 | ||||||
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 | ||
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 | |
2015 | 66,974 | 56.7 | 51,085 | 43.3 | 118,059 | |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.5 Transport activity classified by national/international journeys and main use of vehicle, 2015 | ||||||||
Type of journey | Tonne-km (million) | Tonnes carried (thousand) | ||||||
Own account | Hire or reward | Total | Own account | Hire or reward | Total | |||
National journeys | 2,219 | 5,489 | 7,707 | 41,477 | 69,714 | 111,191 | ||
International journeys | ||||||||
Goods loaded in Ireland | 65 | 785 | 851 | 462 | 2,478 | 2,941 | ||
Goods unloaded in Ireland | 34 | 653 | 687 | 312 | 2,021 | 2,333 | ||
Cross trade | 13 | 534 | 548 | 40 | 967 | 1,007 | ||
Cabotage | 2 | 49 | 51 | 28 | 559 | 587 | ||
Total international | 115 | 2,022 | 2,137 | 842 | 6,025 | 6,867 | ||
Total journeys | 2,334 | 7,510 | 9,844 | 42,319 | 75,740 | 118,059 | ||
Source: CSO |
Table 6.6 Road freight transport activity classified by region of origin and region of destination, 2015 | |||||||||||
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 | 282 | 41 | 55 | 155 | 63 | 23 | 58 | 41 | 22 | 171 | 911 |
Midland | 51 | 123 | 50 | 82 | 46 | 23 | 44 | 54 | 7 | 17 | 498 |
West | 65 | 41 | 253 | 90 | 23 | 52 | 48 | 28 | 4 | 53 | 658 |
Dublin | 223 | 148 | 204 | 481 | 237 | 150 | 231 | 394 | 53 | 185 | 2,307 |
Mid-East | 106 | 42 | 43 | 167 | 192 | 32 | 84 | 65 | 11 | 59 | 801 |
Mid-West | 28 | 45 | 63 | 96 | 28 | 231 | 52 | 126 | 5 | 37 | 712 |
South-East | 42 | 48 | 27 | 172 | 103 | 75 | 450 | 159 | 31 | 135 | 1,242 |
South-West | 15 | 41 | 41 | 195 | 72 | 150 | 236 | 620 | 2 | 59 | 1,429 |
Northern Ireland | 25 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 99 |
Other countries | 80 | 12 | 27 | 253 | 38 | 11 | 119 | 70 | 18 | 559 | 1,187 |
Total | 918 | 545 | 767 | 1,710 | 808 | 749 | 1,338 | 1,559 | 167 | 1,283 | 9,844 |
Tonnes carried (thousand) | |||||||||||
Border | 7,036 | 412 | 443 | 1,318 | 642 | 89 | 319 | 136 | 269 | 716 | 11,379 |
Midland | 656 | 2,919 | 502 | 840 | 638 | 246 | 466 | 272 | 44 | 61 | 6,644 |
West | 653 | 478 | 6,303 | 442 | 125 | 404 | 238 | 142 | 23 | 92 | 8,900 |
Dublin | 1,839 | 1,372 | 983 | 15,766 | 5,287 | 720 | 1,624 | 1,560 | 320 | 643 | 30,115 |
Mid-East | 1,251 | 632 | 241 | 3,957 | 5,121 | 200 | 839 | 281 | 67 | 164 | 12,754 |
Mid-West | 136 | 396 | 447 | 508 | 174 | 5,716 | 637 | 1,566 | 17 | 58 | 9,655 |
South-East | 186 | 431 | 145 | 1,202 | 1,190 | 816 | 10,426 | 1,325 | 134 | 266 | 16,120 |
South-West | 47 | 223 | 208 | 793 | 319 | 1,402 | 1,945 | 13,561 | 4 | 62 | 18,565 |
Northern Ireland | 460 | 24 | 27 | 114 | 26 | 5 | 62 | 4 | 140 | 11 | 874 |
Other countries | 526 | 48 | 82 | 532 | 93 | 13 | 210 | 107 | 22 | 1,421 | 3,053 |
Total | 12,790 | 6,936 | 9,381 | 25,473 | 13,614 | 9,610 | 16,765 | 18,955 | 1,040 | 3,494 | 118,059 |
Vehicle kilometres (million) | |||||||||||
Border | 49 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 131 |
Midland | 8 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 79 |
West | 10 | 7 | 54 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 115 |
Dublin | 27 | 17 | 18 | 96 | 36 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 3 | 15 | 284 |
Mid-East | 12 | 7 | 5 | 33 | 34 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 123 |
Mid-West | 3 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 39 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 104 |
South-East | 5 | 6 | 4 | 23 | 13 | 9 | 65 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 155 |
South-West | 3 | 6 | 5 | 31 | 8 | 19 | 22 | 101 | 0 | 4 | 200 |
Northern Ireland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
Other Countries | 7 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 50 | 101 |
Total | 127 | 80 | 114 | 279 | 124 | 103 | 157 | 201 | 13 | 105 | 1,302 |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.7 Road freight transport activity classified by country of origin and country of destination, 2015 | ||||||||||
Country of origin | Country of destination | Total | ||||||||
France | Germany | Ireland | Italy | Netherlands | Spain | United Kingdom | Other EU | Other countries1 | ||
Tonne-km (million) | ||||||||||
France | 11 | 2 | 52 | 18 | 1 | 10 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 141 |
Germany | 0 | 6 | 61 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 39 | 7 | 0 | 117 |
Ireland | 75 | 57 | 7,707 | 62 | 49 | 26 | 505 | 57 | 19 | 8,558 |
Italy | 12 | 0 | 53 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 83 |
Netherlands | 0 | 3 | 72 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 86 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 43 |
United Kingdom | 19 | 11 | 380 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 209 | 32 | 0 | 673 |
Other EU | 10 | 8 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 49 | 16 | 7 | 128 |
Other countries1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Total | 127 | 86 | 8,394 | 93 | 69 | 46 | 882 | 119 | 27 | 9,844 |
Tonnes carried (thousand) | ||||||||||
France | 22 | 2 | 52 | 24 | 3 | 13 | 69 | 7 | 0 | 192 |
Germany | 0 | 13 | 48 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 40 | 12 | 0 | 121 |
Ireland | 90 | 46 | 111,191 | 40 | 48 | 14 | 2,644 | 44 | 15 | 114,132 |
Italy | 13 | 0 | 32 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 73 |
Netherlands | 2 | 6 | 84 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 118 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
United Kingdom | 37 | 12 | 2,062 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 1,086 | 28 | 0 | 3,248 |
Other EU | 11 | 14 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 25 | 4 | 134 |
Other countries1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
Total | 174 | 94 | 113,524 | 90 | 89 | 35 | 3,912 | 118 | 21 | 118,059 |
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, 2015 | |||||||
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 | 294 | 875 | 1,169 | 3,842 | 9,441 | 13,283 | |
Coal & natural gas | 32 | 44 | 77 | 446 | 305 | 752 | |
Quarry products, metal ores & peat | 397 | 529 | 926 | 13,204 | 13,845 | 27,049 | |
Foodstuffs | 492 | 2,230 | 2,722 | 5,714 | 16,937 | 22,651 | |
Textiles & leather | 31 | 91 | 123 | 304 | 513 | 816 | |
Wood, pulp & paper | 49 | 431 | 480 | 561 | 3,830 | 4,390 | |
Coke & refined petroleum products | 357 | 500 | 857 | 4,614 | 6,076 | 10,690 | |
Chemicals & plastics | 46 | 395 | 441 | 564 | 3,371 | 3,935 | |
Other non-metallic mineral products | 246 | 427 | 673 | 7,615 | 7,735 | 15,350 | |
Metal products (exc. machinery & equipment) | 42 | 168 | 209 | 432 | 1,292 | 1,725 | |
Machinery & equipment | 51 | 148 | 199 | 671 | 909 | 1,579 | |
Furniture & other manufactured goods | 36 | 78 | 114 | 392 | 546 | 937 | |
Secondary raw materials & waste | 149 | 141 | 290 | 2,423 | 1,860 | 4,283 | |
Other goods | 111 | 1,453 | 1,564 | 1,537 | 9,081 | 10,618 | |
Total | 2,334 | 7,510 | 9,844 | 42,319 | 75,740 | 118,059 | |
Source: CSO |
Table 6.9 Number of licensed road hauliers by county, 2008 - 2015 | ||||||||
Number | ||||||||
County | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Carlow | 124 | 118 | 110 | 93 | 86 | 82 | 80 | 72 |
Cavan | 128 | 124 | 108 | 107 | 93 | 89 | 87 | 85 |
Clare | 155 | 157 | 132 | 118 | 100 | 96 | 91 | 85 |
Cork | 609 | 605 | 549 | 516 | 471 | 461 | 460 | 445 |
Donegal | 184 | 179 | 178 | 168 | 158 | 160 | 154 | 148 |
Dublin | 702 | 680 | 626 | 581 | 549 | 522 | 534 | 537 |
Galway | 222 | 218 | 199 | 195 | 169 | 168 | 166 | 170 |
Kerry | 178 | 172 | 157 | 147 | 136 | 131 | 132 | 120 |
Kildare | 368 | 353 | 302 | 275 | 256 | 248 | 237 | 234 |
Kilkenny | 164 | 159 | 145 | 135 | 123 | 120 | 123 | 114 |
Laois | 148 | 142 | 130 | 118 | 108 | 108 | 109 | 109 |
Leitrim | 36 | 41 | 38 | 35 | 28 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
Limerick | 232 | 231 | 207 | 183 | 167 | 155 | 152 | 144 |
Longford | 56 | 54 | 51 | 47 | 42 | 40 | 39 | 37 |
Louth | 222 | 211 | 198 | 174 | 157 | 153 | 151 | 144 |
Mayo | 171 | 163 | 146 | 137 | 118 | 112 | 112 | 106 |
Meath | 340 | 323 | 286 | 252 | 218 | 217 | 218 | 217 |
Monaghan | 193 | 186 | 172 | 160 | 153 | 145 | 142 | 144 |
Offaly | 105 | 103 | 83 | 77 | 73 | 64 | 63 | 68 |
Roscommon | 99 | 99 | 91 | 87 | 80 | 78 | 79 | 79 |
Sligo | 82 | 80 | 78 | 73 | 64 | 61 | 54 | 55 |
Tipperary | 272 | 268 | 232 | 210 | 190 | 175 | 181 | 182 |
Waterford | 88 | 87 | 82 | 61 | 65 | 60 | 63 | 63 |
Westmeath | 94 | 89 | 80 | 71 | 66 | 64 | 65 | 64 |
Wexford | 292 | 270 | 243 | 225 | 213 | 215 | 214 | 209 |
Wicklow | 189 | 184 | 160 | 135 | 116 | 105 | 110 | 107 |
Total | 5,453 | 5,296 | 4,783 | 4,380 | 3,999 | 3,852 | 3,840 | 3,765 |
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport |
Go to next chapter >>> Aviation
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.