Irish people took more journeys abroad last year than in 2024, while the number of domestic trips, including so-called staycation holidays, dipped, new Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures reveal.
Residents of the Republic made 15.1 million trips outside of the State in 2025, an increase of 11 per cent on the previous year.
In the final three months of 2024 alone, Irish consumers took 3.1 million overnight trips abroad, according to the CSO’s latest household travel survey, an increase of 6 per cent on the same period in 2024.
However, the average number of nights spent in a foreign country declined slightly from 5.9 in 2024 to 5.5 last year, the CSO said.
READ MORE
Holidays accounted for 60 per cent of overnight trips abroad last year, the figures showed, with 24 per cent of residents travelling to visit friends or family, and the remaining 9 per cent travelling for business reasons.
Meanwhile, households took 3.1 million domestic trips within the State last year, an 8 per cent decline on 2024, the CSO said.
‘Over a billion eyeballs will be on the parade’: St Patrick’s festival CEO Richard Tierney
The average length of stay for an overnight domestic trip was 2.2 nights, broadly in line with last year, however.
“Visits to friends or relatives accounted for the largest share of total domestic nights at 40 per cent, followed by holiday trips at 38 per cent. Business travel represented 6 per cent of all overnight stays."said Aaron Costello, statistician in the tourism and travel division of the CSO.
The most popular foreign destinations for Irish residents in the fourth quarter of 2025 were within the 27 member states of the European Union, accounting for 8,929 nights, more than half of the total nights spent abroad in 2025.
The southern region of the Republic was the most popular destination for domestic trips over the three months leading up to Christmas, followed closely by the eastern and midlands region and then the northern and western region.
