IE Domain Registry t/a .IE

Our .IE research and reports for 2020 provide empirical evidence of an unprecedented mass mobilisation of digital across every part of Irish society and economy. Businesses migrated online, many for the first time, in direct response to the lockdowns. In our surveys, businesses said they realised that having an online presence, and in many cases e-commerce capabilities, would at the very least minimise the damage of reduced or non-existent footfall but also open new markets and create new ways to interact with customers. Encouragingly, new .ie registration growth was strong across the entire country, not just in urban centres. For the first time ever, annual .ie domain registrations increased in every county on the island of Ireland. New registrations 65,113 new .ie domains were registered in 2020, the highest ever figure and an almost 30% increase on 2019. Peaks and troughs in new .ie registrations generally followed the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions on travel and business. The highest peak occurred in May, when 7,003 new .ie domains were registered, the highest number ever registered in a single month. This occurred approximately 6 weeks after the closure of non-essential retail. This peak began to drop off from June, as restrictions eased, but moved up sharply in October, peaking again in November corresponding to the announcement of the second national lockdown. 8,000 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 LOCKDOWN ANNOUNCED First pandemic restrictions in effect from 13 March 2020 . At this point, new .ie registrations are 6% higher YoY . PEAK LOCKDOWN By May 2020 , non-essential retailers have been closed for 6 weeks. Over 7,000 register a .ie web address. The majority are businesses seeking to continue selling to and communicating with their customers online. CHRISTMAS EFFECT The December 2020 and January 2021 Covid surge, and subsequent lockdown, leads to over 6,000 new .ie registrations in the first two months of the year and almost 7,000 in March . THE RE-OPENING After March 2021’s registration peak, the highest since the pandemic began, new registrations begin to lessen as businesses re-open their physical premises and the vaccine rollout continues . JAN 20 FEB 20 MAR 20 APR 20 MAY 20 JUN 20 JUL 20 AUG 20 SEP 20 OCT 20 NOV 20 DEC 20 JAN 21 FEB 21 MAR 21 APR 21 MAY 21 JUN 21 4,778 4,676 4,720 5,536 7,003 6,538 5,856 4,677 5,480 5,537 6,247 4,065 6,014 6,198 6,789 5,220 5,318 4,276 2020/2021 New .ie registrations H1 2021 Business and Market Review IE Domain Registry CLG t/a .IE / Annual Report & Review 2020 28 Growth and expansion of the .ie namespace At the end of 2020, the .ie database consisted of 309,853 domains, a net increase of 10% on 2019. This increase reflected the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which acted as a digital accelerant.