International tourism, receipts (% of total exports) in Ireland
Ireland: International tourism, receipts (% of total exports) was 0.7% in 2020. ▼ Falling
International tourism, receipts in Ireland, 2005–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total exports.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 0.7% for international tourism, receipts in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 16 years on record.
That represents a change of down 75.4% on the previous year and down 82.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, receipts in Ireland peaked at 4.6% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 2020.
That places Ireland 172nd out of 183 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.
International tourism, receipts (% of total exports) in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % of total exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 4.2% | — |
| 2006 | 4.3% | +4.4% |
| 2007 | 4.4% | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 4.6% | +2.6% |
| 2009 | 4.2% | -8.2% |
| 2010 | 3.9% | -5.9% |
| 2011 | 4.1% | +4.4% |
| 2012 | 3.9% | -4.3% |
| 2013 | 3.8% | -3.2% |
| 2014 | 3.6% | -5.0% |
| 2015 | 3.0% | -17.2% |
| 2016 | 3.2% | +6.9% |
| 2017 | 3.2% | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 3.1% | -3.7% |
| 2019 | 2.8% | -9.7% |
| 2020 | 0.7% | -75.4% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 0.7% is below the median for high income countries, which is 4.2%, 16% of the median. (65 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 0.7% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 3.7%, 19% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, receipts (% of total exports) in Ireland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -75.4% | 2.8% | 0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.6% | 5 |
| 2010s | 3.5% | 2.8% | 4.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More private sector data for Ireland
- Merchandise trade 62.7% (2025)
- Food imports 9.3% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 83.9% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 159.22 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service imports 526.22 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 7.4% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 91.4% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 293.42 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 547.62 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 53,501 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, receipts in Ireland?
- International tourism, receipts in Ireland was 0.7% in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, receipts recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 4.6% in 2008.
- What is the lowest international tourism, receipts recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 2020.
- How does Ireland rank for international tourism, receipts?
- Ireland ranks 172nd out of 183 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, receipts rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 82.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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, receipts (% of total exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International tourism receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport. These receipts include any other prepayment made for goods or services received in the destination country. They also may include receipts from same-day visitors, except when these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include receipts for passenger transport items. Their share in exports is calculated as a ratio to exports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from residents to nonresidents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.