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Irish Ports Handled Goods Which Dip 1% in 2022 - CSO

8th June 2023
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 59% of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports last year took place in Dublin Port.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 59% of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports last year took place in Dublin Port. Credit: Dublin Port Company-facebook

Figures released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that Irish ports in 2022 handled a total of 53.2 million tonnes of goods, this represented a dip of 1% when compared to the previous year.

According to the CSO's Statistics of Port Traffic (Q4 and Year 2022), goods forwarded from Irish ports had amounted to 16.9 million tonnes in 2022.  As for goods received, this amounted to a  total of 36.3 million tonnes entering the nation.

Irish ports had forwarded goods totalling 17.4 million tonnes in 2021 and in the same year 36.6 million tonnes of goods were received.

For figures regarding Great Britain & Northern Ireland they accounted for 35% of the total tonnage of goods handled based from main ports by region of trade in 2022.

In countries of the European Union, the bloc had accounted for 40% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports.

There was a decrease in the number of vessels that called to Irish ports in 2022 with 12,447 vessels, down 266 vessels from a total of 12,713 vessels that arrived last year.

RTE News has more on the CSO figures.

As for tonnage of goods handled, Afloat adds, they decreased in three of five traffic categories in 2022, where there was a percentage increase in Roll-on/roll-off traffic (Ro-Ro) of 5% and Liquid bulk that was at 3%.

For more of the latest CSO figures including passenger based they can be studied here.

Published in Irish Ports
Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

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As an island economy, a healthy maritime sector is key to our national competitiveness. Virtually all our imports and exports pass through Irish ports.

Ireland is dependent on ports and shipping services to transport goods and 90% of our trade is moved though Irish ports. Shipping and maritime transport services make a significant contribution to Ireland’s ocean economy, with the sector generating €2.3 billion in turnover and employing over 5,000 people in 2018.

Ireland’s maritime industry continues to grow and progress each year with Irish ports and shipping companies making significant investments. The ports sector in Ireland is currently undergoing a number of expansions and developments with Dublin Port’s Alexandra Basin development, the development of Ringaskiddy in Cork by Port of Cork and the development of Shannon Foynes Port. Along with these major investments, shipping companies are also investing heavily in new tonnage, with Irish Ferries, CLdN and Stena leading new build programmes.

These pages cover the following sectoral areas: shipowners, harbour authorities, shipbrokers, freight forwarders and contractors, cruise liner operators, port users, seamen, merchants, academic institutions, shipyards and repair facilities, naval architects, navy and defence personnel.

Our pages are covering some of the most notable arrivals around our coast and reporting too on port development and shipping news.

This section of the site deals with Port and Shipping News on our largest ports Dublin Port, Port of Cork, the Shannon Estuary, Galway Harbour and Belfast Lough.

A recent study carried out for the Irish Ports Association (IPA) totalled 75.7 billion during 2004 and their net economic impact was some 5.5 billion supporting around 57, 500 full time employees.

Liam Lacey, Director of the Marine Institute’s Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) said, “The Irish maritime industry can look to the future with confidence. It has shown itself to be resilient and agile in responding to challenges. Over the past decade, it has had to respond to the challenges of the financial crisis of 2008, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and recent challenges. Ireland’s maritime sector has continued to underpin our economy by maintaining vital shipping links for both trade and tourism.”