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The Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI) collects information on how and why people travel within Northern Ireland.

The TSNI started in 1999 and is based on the National Travel Survey run by the Department for Transport. Three years of data are normally combined to ensure the analysis carried out is robust.  This ensures a wide range range of analysis can be carried out.  Where it is established that there is a large enough achieved sample, it is possible to report limited information for single years.  

Three TSNI reports are produced annually. Technical reports (survey methodology and questionnaire) and in-depth reports (detailed results) are available from 1999-2001. Headline reports (key results) have been published since 2007-2009.

• The latest full set of publications available are for 2021 ,  2020  and  2017-2019 . 
• Previous publications (1999-2001 to 2016-2018) are also available.
• Short TSNI factsheets with infographics highlighting specific topics have been produced from 2014-2016 to 2016-2018.

2021 publications

• 2021 in-depth report
• 2021 headline report
• 2021 technical report

2020 publications

• 2020 in-depth report
• 2020 headline report
• 2020 technical report

2017-2019 publications

• 2017-2019 in-depth report
• 2017-2019 headline report
• 2017-2019 technical report

Previous publications

All  previous publications (1999-2001 to 2016-2018) are available to view.

Related information

More information on the Travel Survey for Northern Ireland can be found at:

• Travel Survey for Northern Ireland

For general enquiries, data requests and feedback, contact  Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch

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Travel survey for Northern Ireland - in-depth report 2021

Document Status

Sustainability, Environment, Development & Planning

Presents detailed statistical information on personal travel by residents of Northern Ireland from the Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI) covering the period 1 January to 31 December 2021.

Published: 7 December 2023. Produced in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

• Statistics and information, GIS
• Transport statistics
• Planning and development

Publisher History

The Department for Infrastructure (DFI) is one of nine Northern Ireland departments, responsible for: regional strategic planning and development policy; transport strategy and sustainable transport policy; public transport policy and performance; road safety and vehicle regulation policy; provision and maintenance of all public roads; river and sea defence maintenance and the construction of flood alleviation schemes; provision of flood maps and risk information; policy on water and sewerage services among others. Formerly Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department for Regional Development, Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland and Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, Planning Service.

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The Construction Information Service (CIS) gives subscribers 'the information advantage' in today's competitive market.

To request a quote, complete the form below, selecting your supplements of interest.

• Construction Management
• Mechanical and Electrical
• Planning and Development
• Civil and Structural

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Statistical press release: Travel Survey for Northern Ireland In-depth Report 2016-2018 published

Date published: 13 February 2020

The Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI) In-depth Report, containing statistics for 2016-2018, is now available.

The publication is produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure and contains information on a variety of travel modes including walking, cycling, public transport, cars, a variety of journey purposes including travelling to work and shopping and key tables by urban–rural. 

The publication is available on the ASRB website at:  Travel Survey for Northern Ireland

The key points for 2016-2018 are:

• Each person travelled, on average, 5,868 miles per year during 2016-2018 - around the same as 10 years ago (6,032 miles per person per year in 2006-2008).
• On average, there were 903 journeys made per person per year over the period 2016-2018 - a decrease from 2006-2008 (926 journeys per person per year).
• In 2016-18, the average time each person spent travelling was 304 hours per year - around the same as in 2006-2008 (306 hours per person per year).
• On average, people living in urban areas made around the same number of journeys each year as people living in rural areas (urban: 908; rural: 894).  However, rural residents travelled further per year (urban: 4,813 miles; rural: 7,500 miles) and spent more time travelling per year (urban: 298 hours; rural: 312 hours) than urban residents.
• In 2016-2018, 70% of all journeys were made by car, 19% by walking, 5% by public transport (Ulsterbus, Metro, Other Bus, Northern Ireland Railways, Black Taxi) and 1% by cycling.  Walking has increased from 17% in 2006-2008 to 19% of all journeys in 2016-2018.  There has been no real change from 10 years ago for the other travel modes.
• Nearly one sixth (16%) of all journeys were less than one mile long.  Just under two thirds (66%) of these short journeys were on foot and 31% were by car.  The car was the dominant mode of transport (77%) for all journeys one mile or over.
• In 2016-2018, 29% of all journeys were made for leisure and other purposes (visiting friends, entertainment, social activities, sports activities, holiday, day trips, just walking, other), 20% for commuting and business and 17% for shopping.  Shopping has decreased from 21% in 2006-2008 to 17% of all journeys in 2016-2018.  Leisure and other has increased from 26% in 2006-2008 to 29% of all journeys in 2016-2018.
• Just under two thirds (66%) of all respondents took a walk lasting at least 20 minutes once a week or more.
• One in ten (10%) of all respondents in 2016-2018 cycled once a week or more.
• Just under one sixth (16%) of all respondents travelled on a bus once a week or more.  Around 1 in 30 (3%) of all respondents travelled on a train once a week or more.

Notes to editors: 

Background to tsni 2016-2018 in-depth report.

• The Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI) is a household survey and is the only source of information on how, over the region as a whole, people use different forms of transport to meet their travel needs as individuals.  Detailed user information, definitions and guidance are included in the report.
• TSNI reports are published annually and the earliest data available are for the 1999-2001 period.  This is the second of the two reports to be published covering the 2016-2018 reporting period.  A headline report (containing key figures) was published in July 2019.  This in-depth report contains more detailed analysis on journeys taken by a representative sample of the population over the time period 2016-2018 (including breakdowns by age and gender) and more trend comparisons with earlier years. 
• This report has been completely redesigned for this edition to make it more user-friendly and accessible, with information reorganised into themed sections so users can easily identify the data they are most interested in.

Official statistics

• This is a National Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Statistics.  You can find further information about the Code of Practice at: Statistics Authority .

Additional information

For more information relating to this publication, including alternative formats, please contact:

• Telephone: (028) 9054 0799
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website:  Statistics and research
• For media queries please contact the DfI Press Office on 028 9054 0007 or email [email protected]
• For media follow the Department on Twitter @deptinfra and on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure  

South of Ireland remains most popular destination for domestic trips, new survey shows

Irish residents took 14.3 million domestic overnight trips last year, a new survey has found.

It is one million more than during the previous year, with people spending €3.1 million in 2023 compared to €2.9 million in 2022.

A new household travel survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office has shown that holiday was the most common reason for domestic trips last year, which was confirmed by 45pc of respondents.

However, it was shortly followed by around 40pc of respondents who said the reason for their travel was visits to friends or relatives.

From October to December last year, the most popular destination was the southern part of the country, including Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork and Kerry. These counties accounted for 42pc of overnight trips.

Southern regions remained the most popular for another year, as they also made up 42pc of trips during the same period in 2022.

The next most popular regions were the eastern part and Midlands – Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, Louth, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, and Laois – which amounted to 36pc of domestic trips.

The third favourite destination was the northern and western regions, including Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon, making up 22pc of trips.

The survey shows an 11pc increase in domestic trips taken from October to December 2023 than during the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, Irish residents took 12.6 million outbound trips in 2023, on which they spent €12.9 billion. It is equivalent to nearly 80 million bed nights.

It comes as more than one in three trips from October to December last year were taken to the UK, including Northern Ireland.

The survey finds a 27pc increase in the total number of outbound trips from October to December 2023 in comparison to the same period in 2022.

There was also a 28pc increase in spending for domestic trips and a 52pc rise for outbound trips.

Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division Aaron Costello has said: “Irish residents took 14.3 million domestic overnight trips and 12.6 million outbound overnight trips in 2023.”

"Total domestic nights decreased slightly at 34 million in 2023, compared with 34.2 million in 2022.

“In 2023, Irish residents took 15.4 million domestic same-day visits and 2 million outbound same-day visits.

"Expenditure amounted to €717 million on domestic same-day visits in 2023 which was down from the 2022 figure of €856 million,” he added.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan's exclusive take on the day's news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.

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• Regional and local government
• Northern Ireland

Family Resources Survey Report, Northern Ireland 2022 to 2023

This report provides an annual summary of the key findings from the Northern Ireland Family Resources Survey.

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NI Passenger Survey - survey and analysis methodology

Date published: 25 May 2017

• External Overnight Trips to Northern Ireland

NI Passenger Survey methodology can be accessed below.

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