Overseas visitor numbers sharply decline in 2023

Approximately 6,564,000 overseas visitors came to Ireland in 2023 according to Fáilte Ireland’s Key Tourism Facts 2023 National Summary published in February 2025.

This represents a 32 per cent decrease from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 when there were 9,674,000 overseas visitors, according to a report published by the Sustainable Tourism and Visitor Experience Lab (STORY) in September 2022. The report, titled Climate Change and Tourism: The Carbon Footprint of Irish Tourism, also states that Irish tourism contributed an estimated 11.62 MtCO2eq in emissions in 2019. This is the latest available data on emissions from the Irish tourism industry.

It asserts that overseas visitors accounted for 10.12 MtCO2eq, 87 per cent of tourism emissions. Climate Change and Tourism identifies aviation as “the most significant contributor to Irish tourism emissions”, accounting for 7.33 MtCO2eq. The following is a breakdown of the emissions generated by visitors by country.

• US: 2.99 MtCO2eq (41 per cent)
• Australia, New Zealand, and other Oceania countries: 1.14 MtCO2eq (16 per cent;
• Other areas: 0.99 MtCO2eq (13 per cent); and
• Great Britain: 0.36 MtCO2eq (5 per cent).

“The findings above demonstrate that long-haul flights have a significant impact on aviation emissions,” the report states. It asserts that the high levels of emissions generated by the US “is due to a combination of travelling long distances and higher visitor numbers”.

The report adds: “In comparison, Ireland’s most significant overseas tourist market, Britain, is responsible for only 5 per cent of aviation emissions. This is a relatively low contribution due to the shorter flight distance.”

In 2023, Great Britain had the largest contingent of visitors with 2,604,000, a 25 per cent decrease from 2019 when it stood at 3,487,000. It was followed by mainland Europe at 2,260,000, a 37 per cent decrease from 2019 when it stood at 3,609,000. There were 1,340,000 visitors from North America, a 29.5 per cent decrease from 2019 when it stood at 1,902,000. In 2023, 362,000 visitors came from ‘rest of world’, a 46 per cent decrease from 2019 when it stood at 676,000.

Approximately 1,347,000 visitors came from Northern Ireland in 2023, a 5.5 per cent increase from 2019 when it stood at 1,277,000. The STORY report estimates that visitors from Northern Ireland produced 0.15 MtCO2eq, 1 per cent of total emissions in 2019.

In 2023, 14,309,000 domestic trips were made in Ireland, a 23 per cent increase from 2019 when there were 11,621,000. The STORY report estimates that domestic visitors produced 1.35 MtCO2eq, 12 per cent of total emissions in 2019.

It identifies internal transport as the highest contributor to domestic tourism emissions in Ireland. “Domestic tourism contributes nearly the same level of internal transport emissions as overseas tourists, even though their length of stay is far shorter. This is mainly due to the more prominent use of personal cars and further distances travelled.”

Although it is likely that emissions from domestic trips and visitors from Northern Ireland have increased in comparison to 2019, it can be assumed that total emissions from the tourism industry have reduced in line with the significant decrease in overseas visitors in this time.

2025 so far

Central Statistics Office data show that 1,612,000 foreign visitors completed a trip in Ireland during the months of January, February, March, and April in 2025. In April 2025, 528,100 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland, down by 4 per cent from April 2024 and up by 14 per cent from April 2023.

Great Britain had the largest contingent of visitors at 214,200, 40.6 per cent of the total. The US was second with 93,200 (17.6 per cent), followed by Germany with 36,300 (6.9 per cent).

Overseas visitors stayed a total of 3.4 million nights in the country, 1.5 per cent less than April 2024 and 6 per cent less than April 2023. On average, foreign resident overnight visitors stayed for 6.5 nights, up from 6.4 in April 2024 and down from 7.9 in April 2023.

European overseas visitors excluding Great Britain spent the most nights in the country at 1,339,900 nights (39 per cent of total). Visitors from Great Britain spent 959,000 nights (27.9 per cent), visitors from North America spent 856,300 nights (24.9 per cent), and ‘other’ visitors spent 281,400 nights (8.2 per cent).

A total of 1,931,300 visitors arrived by sea or air while there were 1,949,400 departures, up by 12.1 per cent from April 2024. Of all departing passengers, 64.2 per cent were outbound Irish residents. A further 8.8 per cent were same-day visitors while 27.1 per cent were foreign resident overnight visitors.