
Tourism in Ireland
Ireland recorded a total of 11 m tourists in 2019, ranking 42nd in the world in absolute terms.That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Ireland, the result is much more comparable picture: With 2.2 tourists per resident, Ireland ranked 48th in the world. On the British Isles, it ranked 1st.
Ireland generated around 14.81 bn US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 3.8 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 100 percent of all international tourism receipts on the British Isles.
A global comparison can be found here › International tourism
Back to overview: Ireland
The most popular city in Ireland for international travelers is Dublin. In 2018 it reached the 50th place of the world's most popular cities with 5.21 m tourists.

Development of the tourism sector in Ireland from 1995 to 2019
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Ireland each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all countries on the British Isles.

Revenues in tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 2.70 bn USD, or about 3.9 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 4.82 m tourists at that time and roughly 560 USD per person. Within 24 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased slightly. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 14.81 bn USD, accounting for 3.8 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 1,352 USD for his holiday in Ireland.
All data for Ireland in detail
Year | Number | Receipts | % of GNP | Income |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 10.95 m | 14.81 bn $ | 3.8 % | 1,352 $ |
2018 | 10.93 m | 15.28 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,398 $ |
2017 | 10.34 m | 14.29 bn $ | 4.3 % | 1,383 $ |
2016 | 10.10 m | 12.65 bn $ | 4.2 % | 1,252 $ |
2015 | 9.53 m | 11.48 bn $ | 3.9 % | 1,204 $ |
2014 | 8.81 m | 11.10 bn $ | 4.3 % | 1,260 $ |
2013 | 8.26 m | 10.17 bn $ | 4.3 % | 1,231 $ |
2012 | 7.55 m | 9.26 bn $ | 4.1 % | 1,226 $ |
2011 | 7.63 m | 9.53 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,249 $ |
2010 | 7.13 m | 8.19 bn $ | 3.7 % | 1,147 $ |
2009 | 7.19 m | 8.46 bn $ | 3.6 % | 1,177 $ |
2008 | 8.03 m | 9.97 bn $ | 3.6 % | 1,242 $ |
2007 | 8.33 m | 9.26 bn $ | 3.4 % | 1,112 $ |
2006 | 8.00 m | 7.66 bn $ | 3.3 % | 958 $ |
2005 | 7.33 m | 6.78 bn $ | 3.2 % | 925 $ |
2004 | 6.95 m | 6.08 bn $ | 3.1 % | 874 $ |
2003 | 6.76 m | 5.21 bn $ | 3.2 % | 770 $ |
2002 | 6.48 m | 4.23 bn $ | 3.3 % | 653 $ |
2001 | 6.35 m | 3.79 bn $ | 3.5 % | 596 $ |
2000 | 6.65 m | 3.52 bn $ | 3.5 % | 529 $ |
1999 | 6.40 m | 3.40 bn $ | 3.4 % | 531 $ |
1998 | 6.06 m | 3.30 bn $ | 3.7 % | 544 $ |
1997 | 5.59 m | 3.18 bn $ | 3.8 % | 569 $ |
1996 | 5.29 m | 3.02 bn $ | 4.0 % | 571 $ |
1995 | 4.82 m | 2.70 bn $ | 3.9 % | 560 $ |
All data correspond to the information of the World Tourism Organization.