One in seven business premises now vacant as commercial vacancy hits record high

Almost 31,000 commercial properties across Ireland now lie empty, with the west experiencing the highest rates of business vacancies

Analysis of the vacant properties, along with the 180,349 occupied units, found that the retail and wholesale sector suffered the largest decline in occupied units. File picture: Larry Cummins

The number of empty business premises across Ireland has hit a new record, with almost one in every seven units now vacant.

A new report shows the national commercial vacancy rate stood at 14.6% in the second quarter, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024.