New figures from the Central Statistics Office show a dip in the number of foreign visitors who completed a trip to Ireland in September.
The CSO said 590,700 foreign resident visitors came to Ireland last month – down 2% on the same month last year but up 2% compared with September 2024.
The figures show that the number of nights spent here by foreign visitors in September amounted to just under 4.4 million nights, an increase of 1% on September 2025.
The average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors last month was 7.4 nights, up from 7.1 nights the same time last year.
Today’s figures show that overnight visits by foreign residents so far this year is estimated at 5.3 million, a jump of 9% compared with January to September last year and up 1% compared with 2024.
They also reveal that visitors’ expenditure in Ireland (excluding fares) came to €595m in September.
Visitors from North America accounted for 39% of this spend, Continental Europe for 30%, Great Britain for 21%, and visitors from the Rest of the World for 9%.
The CSO said that taken together, this represented a rise of 4% when compared with September 2025 but was down 12% when compared with September 2024.
48% of overnight foreign visitors said the main purpose of their trip to Ireland was for holidays, leisure and recreation, while 28% said it was for visiting friends and relatives, and 16% of trips were for business reasons.
The CSO said the biggest number of visitors to come here in September came from Great Britain (34%), followed by Continental Europe (32%), North America (27%) and the Rest of the World (6%).
