New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish ports handled a total of 53.2 million tonnes of goods in 2022, a dip of 1% compared with 2021.
The CSO said that goods forwarded from Irish ports amounted to 16.9 million tonnes in 2022, while a total of 36.3 million tonnes of goods were received.
Goods forwarded from Irish ports amounted to 17.4 million tonnes in 2021, while a total of 36.6 million tonnes of goods were received in 2021.
Today's CSO figures show that Great Britain & Northern Ireland accounted for 35% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade in 2022. EU countries accounted for 40% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports.
A total of 12,447 vessels arrived in Irish ports last year, down on the 12,713 vessels in 2021.
The CSO noted that most vessels last year arrived in Dublin with Dublin Port accounting for 59% of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports.
Meanwhile, cruise ship traffic returned last year after Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
A total of 240 cruise ships arrived in Irish ports in 2022, 75 fewer when compared with 2019 when 315 cruise ships visited the country.
The majority of cruise ships arrived between May and September and the most popular ports for these ships were Cork and Dún Laoghaire.
