Foreign visitors to Ireland decrease by 30% in February 2025
Kenneth Fox
Foreign visitors decreased by 30 per cent in February 2025, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Some 304,300 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in February 2025, a decrease of 30 per cent compared with February 2024.
The visitors spent €196 million on their trips (excluding fares), down 31 per cent compared with February 2024.
The largest contingent of visitors came from Great Britain (49 per cent), and the second largest came from the United States (10 per cent).
The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was to visit family or friends (3 per cent).
The visitors stayed a total of 1.8 million nights in the country, a drop of 33 per cent when compared with February 2024.
The average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 5.9 nights, down from an average of 6.2 nights in February 2024..
Commenting on the release, Gregg Patrick, statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said: “The results show that 304,300 foreign visitors departed Ireland on overseas routes in February 2025, a decrease of 30 per cent compared with February 2024.
"This decrease represents an acceleration of the downward year-on-year trend in foreign visitor numbers that first emerged in September 2024."
The visitors' expenditure in Ireland (excluding fares) was €196 million, a decrease of 31 per cent compared with February 2024. However, the mean expenditure per visitor decreased by just 1.8 per cent to €643.
In terms of revenue generated, the most important tourism markets were both Continental Europe (36 per cent) and Great Britain (36 per cent).
These were followed by North America (18 per cent) and the Rest of the World (10 per cent).
The most frequent reason for their journey (37 per cent) was to visit family or friends.
Mr Patrick said: "More of the visitors stayed in their property or with family or friends (44 per cent) than in any other accommodation type, and the typical visit lasted 5.9 nights."