Press Statement

Preasráiteas

11 August 2021

Go to release: Transport Bulletin August 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 August 2021) published its latest Transport Bulletin. The bulletin captures the impact of the latest COVID-19 restrictions on traffic volumes and the number of journeys taken on public transport. This bulletin is compiled using data collected by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, the National Transport Authority, Dublin City Council, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Transport.

The bulletin shows that car traffic volumes have not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels but the gap between 2021 and 2019 figures is gradually declining.

Commenting on this latest bulletin, Nele van der Wielen, Statistician, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show that car traffic volumes increased over the first seven months of 2021 in line with the gradual lifting of travel restrictions. Latest available data for the week beginning 26 July (week 30) show that the volume of private cars in regional locations are 8% higher than in the same week of 2020, however, car traffic volumes are still 10% lower than in week 30 of 2019.

Today’s release also shows that figures for new cars licensed rose above 2019 levels. The number of new cars licensed for the first time in July 2021 was 20,232 compared with 15,329 in July 2020 and 18,741 in July 2019.

Further commenting on the Transport Bulletin, Nele van der Wielen said: “COVID-19 continues to have a major impact on airport passenger numbers. While the number of passengers travelling through the main airports in Ireland in June 2021 was at its highest level since the beginning of the year,  the number of passengers travelling through the main airports in June 2021 was still 92% lower than the same month in 2019.”

 This bulletin will be updated on a regular basis to measure the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on transport. Future editions will be located on the CSO COVID-19 Information Hub.

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