New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish ports handled a total of 12.9 million tonnes of goods in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 7% compared with the same time last year.
The CSO said that goods forwarded from from Irish ports amounted to four million tonnes while nine million tonnes of goods were received in the first three months of the year.
The CSO said the port of Greenore in Co Louth met the criteria to be included as a main statistical port for the first time in the latest three month period under review.
Greenore joins Bantry Bay, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Rosslare, Shannon Foynes and Waterford, and increases the total number of main statistical ports in Ireland from seven to eight.
This is the first time the number of statistical ports in Ireland has increased since this series began in the first quarter of 2017, the CSO noted.
Today’s CSO figures show that a total of 2,557 vessels arrived in Irish ports in the first quarter of this year compared with 2,488 the same time last year.
Dublin Port accounted for 58% of vessel arrivals and for 47% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the three month period.
They also reveal that Great Britain & Northern Ireland accounted for 29% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade, while EU countries accounted for 48% of the total tonnage of goods.
