IE-Annual-Report-&-Review-2024

Growth and development of .ie In 2024, we continued to support channel partners to grow their digital services, highlighting the benefits of utilising a .ie domain to instil trust with consumers, protect a business’s brand and engage new audiences (both at home and abroad). Database growth There were 326 ,567.ie domains in the database at the end of 2024, a 0.5% decrease on 2023, reflecting registrations and renewals which were virtually unchanged compared to 2023. While this is the third year that we have seen flat growth since the end of the pandemic, the multi-year trend remains positive. By end-2024, the growth in the database was up by 16% over the five-year period (Chart 3). Chart 3: Total .ie database 2024 326,567 2023 328,248 2022 329,266 2021 330,108 2020 309,853 2019 280,958 Chart 4: Registration and Renewal Fees €10 €20 €30 €40 €50 €60 24 23 13 11 09 08 Year 07 06 05 04 01 Registration fee Renewal fee The global context There has been a notable decline in domain creations on a global scale. CENTR, the association of European country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registries, highlighted in October 2024 that European ccTLDs have experienced notable shifts in recent years. It reports that “Increasing deletion rates, particularly from early 2023, appear to be tied to the surge in new registrations during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many of these domains are now being abandoned. At the same time, domain creations have steadily declined from their pandemic peak.” .ie domain activation and usage Domain registrations are a forward-indicator of digital intentions. However, we can see that good intentions sometimes come to naught. Some domains are not used and are deleted at renewal time. Others are used to create a website, but remain basic and not sophisticated, thereby missing the opportunity to provide a true platform for growth in sales and profits for the business owner. Across the 32 counties, new .ie domain registrations in 2024 demonstrated a positive forward indicator of increased regional economic activity. Strong performers included Leitrim, Tyrone and Meath who recorded increases of 51%, 20% and 19% respectively v 2023 – illustrated on page 25. Having adopted omni-channel business models to include physical and digital strategies, the challenge now is to retain the productivity gains and other benefits from digitalisation. The wider context of geopolitical turmoil and local macroeconomic factors increases this challenge for SMEs as they represent additional downward pressures on profits and sales growth prospects. +16% v Jan 2020 Business Review 24 IE Domain Registry CLG t/a .IE / Annual Report & Review 2024