International tourism, number of departures in Ireland
Ireland: International tourism, number of departures was 2.33 million in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of departures in Ireland, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, number of departures in Ireland stood at 2.33 million. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 75.1% on the previous year and down 66.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of departures in Ireland peaked at 9.35 million in 2019 and was at its lowest, 2.33 million, in 2020.
Ireland ranks 49th of 117 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, number of departures in Ireland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2.55 million | — |
| 1996 | 2.73 million | +7.3% |
| 1997 | 3.05 million | +11.7% |
| 1998 | 3.33 million | +9.1% |
| 1999 | 3.58 million | +7.4% |
| 2000 | 3.78 million | +5.8% |
| 2001 | 4.22 million | +11.4% |
| 2002 | 4.63 million | +9.9% |
| 2003 | 4.93 million | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 5.41 million | +9.7% |
| 2005 | 6.11 million | +13.0% |
| 2006 | 6.85 million | +12.0% |
| 2007 | 7.71 million | +12.6% |
| 2008 | 7.88 million | +2.1% |
| 2009 | 7.05 million | -10.5% |
| 2010 | 6.92 million | -1.8% |
| 2011 | 6.51 million | -5.8% |
| 2012 | 6.60 million | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 6.58 million | -0.3% |
| 2014 | 6.68 million | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 7.09 million | +6.3% |
| 2016 | 7.65 million | +7.8% |
| 2017 | 8.17 million | +6.9% |
| 2018 | 8.64 million | +5.8% |
| 2019 | 9.35 million | +8.2% |
| 2020 | 2.33 million | -75.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.05 million | 2.55 million | 3.58 million | 5 |
| 2000s | 5.86 million | 3.78 million | 7.88 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.42 million | 6.51 million | 9.35 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.33 million | 2.33 million | 2.33 million | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More private sector data for Ireland
- Merchandise trade 62.7% (2025)
- Food imports 9.4% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 82.7% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 159.22 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 7.9% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 90.7% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 293.42 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 53,501 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.4066 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 21.65 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of departures in Ireland?
- International tourism, number of departures in Ireland was 2.33 million in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 9.35 million in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.33 million in 2020.
- How does Ireland rank for international tourism, number of departures?
- Ireland ranks 49th out of 117 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of departures rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 66.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, number of departures. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.