More than 70,000 vacant homes were recorded across the State at the end of 2024, with rural vacancy rates more than twice those of urban areas, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The statistics, based on electricity consumption data, show a national vacancy rate of 3.2 per cent, with 70,149 homes using “very low levels of electricity” in the 12 months to the end of 2024.
The figures, the most recent available from the CSO, show a small drop in the number of empty homes from 72,254, (3.3 per cent) at the end of 2023.
There was, however, a considerable variation in the rate of vacancy across the State, with a rural vacancy rate of 5.4 per cent and an urban vacancy rate of 2.2 at the end of 2024.
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The local authorities with the highest percentage of vacant homes were Leitrim (7.8), Donegal (6.3), Mayo (6.0) and Roscommon (5.6).
In contrast, much lower vacancy rates were found in south Dublin (0.9), Fingal (1.1), Kildare (1.4) and Dún Laoghaire (1.5).
Dublin City Council had a notably higher level of empty homes than the three other Dublin local authorities, with a vacancy rate of 2.6 per cent.
However, Dublin city did have lower vacancy rates than some of the regional cities, with a rate of 3.1 per cent in Cork city, and 3.3 per cent in Waterford City and County Council and 3.5 per cent in Limerick City and County Council, although an analysis of the electoral divisions of these local authorities indicates a rate of about 2 per cent in their city areas.
Galway city had a vacancy rate of 1.7 per cent.
Older homes were more likely to be vacant, with more than 80 per cent of vacant homes built before 2000. Of those, 39 per cent were built from 1961 to 2000, 24 per cent from 1919 to 1960 and 19 per cent before 1919.
Almost two-thirds of vacant dwellings at the end of 2024 had used low levels of electricity for more than two years, equating to 45,137 vacant dwellings, with just one in 10 having low levels of consumption for just one year.
The county with the highest levels of long-term vacancy (more than six years) was in Leitrim at 5.2 per cent, while south Dublin had the lowest rate at 0.2 per cent of homes vacant for more than six years.
Steven Conroy, statistician in the CSO housing division, said low levels of electricity usage were classified as consumption of about 2kWh per day, or 180kWh per quarter, over a period of at least four consecutive quarters.
“For context, 2kWh consumption is enough to power a medium-sized fridge for a day.”
