Decline in number of occupied commerical premises

The number of vacant commercial premises rose last year, according to new data from GeoDirectory.

The statistics show the number of occupied buildings fell from 198,019 in the first quarter to 195,723 in the final three months of 2013. This is equivalent to a 1.2 per cent decline.

There were 27,585 vacant units in Ireland at the end of last year with the number of empty premises rising by 2,153 over the 12 months.

The average national commercial vacancy rate for the year was 12 per cent. All four provinces recorded an increase in their overall vacancy rate of around 1 percentage point.

On average, Kerry recorded the lowest average vacancy rate of any county in 2013 at 8.9 per cent while Sligo had the highest average commercial vacancy rate at 15.4 per cent.

In the fourth quarter there were 223,308 commercial properties in Ireland, 27,585 of which were vacant.

Dublin had the largest number of commercial addresses with 48,966 premises, equivalent to 21.9 per cent of all properties. Cork had 26,086 premises while Galway had 12,751.

Leitrim, Longford and Carlow had the lowest number of commercial address points with less than 3,000 units in each county.

GeoDirectory's figures are compiled using information provided by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland.