New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of trips made abroad by Irish residents fell by 10.2% in the final quarter of 2010 compared to the same time the previous year.
The CSO says that a total of 1,322,500 overseas trips were taken by Irish people in the months from October to December last year, down from the 1,472,900 taken the same time in 2009. In turn the 2009 figures were 6.8% lower than the 2008 figures.
The figures also reveal that the number of trips by foreign visitors here fell by 2.2% in the last three months of 2010 to stand at a total of 1,414,300. The yearly comparison shows that visitors to Ireland were down 12.9% in 2010 compared to 2009.
Visitors to Ireland from the UK fell by 8.7% to 657,600 in the fourth quarter of 2010, while trips from other areas and North America rose by 9.2% and 13.9% to stand at 78,100 and 201,400 respectively.
