The buoyancy of economic activity in Ireland is evidenced by new CSO data relating to road freight transport in Q1 2022.

The Central Statistics Office estimates that 40.8 million tonnes of goods was transported by road in the January to March 2022 period.

This represents an increase of 19% on the Q1 2021 total, and an increase of 11% when compared with the same quarter in 2019.

Goods vehicles involved in the 'Delivery of Goods to Road Works or Building Sites' carried 16.8m tonnes in Q1 2022, which was the highest among all types of work carried out by goods vehicles.

The commodity group 'Quarry products, metal ores and peat' represented nearly a third of all tonnes carried in Q1 2022.

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In 2022, the total distance covered by road freight transport was 468m kilometres.

CSO statistician Dr Nele van der Wielen commented: “Activity measured as weight by distance, or tonne-kilometres (tkm), reached 3,050m tkm in Q1 2022, an increase of 7% compared with Q1 2021.

The total distance covered by road freight transport in 2021 was 468 million kilometres. The commodity groups that were contributing most to vehicle kilometres were 'Foodstuffs' and the miscellaneous category 'Other Goods'.”

To estimate road freight transport usage, every quarter the CSO collects information in respect of one week’s transport activity for a random sample of goods vehicles.  

A survey questionnaire is issued to the registered owners of these vehicles by post, seeking information on the vehicle and an account of the vehicle’s activity during the a weekly period.