Ireland inbound visitor numbers from Britain in July were 217,900, up 4.6pc on July 2025 and down 41.5pc on pre-pandemic. Rolling annual was 3,564,000, up 3.7pc on the twelve months to July 2025.
The total for the first six months of 2026 was 1,258,000, up 13.1pc on the six months to June 2025 and down 31.4pc on pre-pandemic.. This follows increases of 4pc in June, 21pc in May, 1.8pc in April, 16.6pc in March, 16.4pc in February and 23.5pc in January.
Change in CSO methodology
There was a significant change CSO methodology in 2023 which presents difficulties in comparing pre-pandemic figures. It now relies on a single passenger survey with stricter sampling rules. The new survey is also conducted by an interviewer rather than filled out by the passengers themselves. The change had the effect of almost exactly reversing the ratio of inbound & outbound passengers through the airports and ports, 60/40 outbound instead of 60/40 inbound.
CSO tourism stats for Ireland
Overall – Australia/NZ – Benelux – Britain – Canada – Europe – France – Germany – Italy – North Anerica – Scandinavia – Spain/Portugal – USA – Outbound –
