Report finds every county in Ireland has fewer pubs than in 2005

Dublin has the fewest pubs in the country per head of population, according to the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI).

Their figures show there is one pub in the capital for every 1,743 people with 1,477 fewer pubs in the whole country last year than in 2005, representing a 17.1% drop across the country.

Kildare has the second-fewest pubs per capita, followed by Meath, Wicklow and Laois.

Cork has the most bars but it has also seen the biggest drop in the number of them, with 25% fewer pubs since 2005.

In 2017, there were 7,140 pubs nationwide, a decline from 8,617 in 2005.

Rural counties saw the most significant drop in pubs. In 2005, there were 7,831 pubs in Ireland outside of Dublin, but last year that number dropped by 18.7% to 6,367.

In another report, Alcohol Excise Tax in Europe: Where Does Ireland Rank?, Ireland is second in the EU’s ‘Big 4’ for overall alcohol excise tax, according to a new report authored by DCU economist Anthony Foley and published today by the DIGI.

The Big 4 - Finland, Ireland, Sweden and the UK - is made up of EU member states with disproportionately high alcohol excise tax compared to other countries in the bloc.

Mr Foley's findings show that Ireland has the highest wine excise in EU, the second-highest beer excise, and third-highest spirits excise.

The country with the fifth highest alcohol excise tax, Estonia, has a rate almost 50% lower than Ireland’s and 33% lower than the last country in the Big 4, the UK.