In this edition, we assess the full year of 2023 – new .ie domain registrations, the .ie database, and country and county of domain registration. In our EU cyber regulations chapter, we look at the implications for Ireland’s digital services sector in the light of the impending NIS2 regulation. The chapter on Covid period domain registrations – where are they now shows that almost 50% of domains created in that period are still actively used. In our Analysis of .ie domain ecosystem chapter we examine domain usage, keyword usage in new registrations, .ie website categorisation and the .ie market share.
New registrations
In 2023, there were 48,689 new .ie domain registrations, a modest increase on 2022. The extraordinary levels of growth experienced during Covid have tapered off and registration levels have returned to more regular patterns. A large proportion of new registrations in 2023 came from existing .ie domain customers who were able to avail of our express registration process.
The .ie Domain Profile Report demonstrates that SMEs continue to use websites as a core part of their business with the benefits far outweighing a social media ‘shop front’. However, e-commerce take up remains low at just under 12%. Identity with ‘Place’ continues to be popular for new .ie registrations. 24 counties had their county name and / or ‘Ireland’ as one of their top 3 keywords.
Total database and market share
There were 328,245 domains in the .ie database at the end of 2023, a 0.31% decrease on 2022. The multi-year trend, however, remains positive. Over the past five years database grew by 16.8% (2023 vs 2019).
90% of all .ie domains are registered on the island of Ireland. The reputational strength of the .ie domain continues and it is the domain of choice for Ireland. It now accounts for 54.3% of all top-level domains hosted in Ireland, ahead of .com by more than 25 percentage points.
Under the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Directive, .ie is designated as an Operator of Essential Services (OES). As one of the guardians of Ireland’s national critical infrastructure, the .ie namespace, we are acutely aware of helping to protect Irish consumers and SMEs from cyber criminals.
We proactively respond to online abuse by employing the services of Netcraft which is invaluable as it helps innocent victims such as SMEs who might be unaware that they have been attacked.
We are encouraged by the fact that 70% of content-rich.ie websites are secured with a security certificate.
.ie Domain Profile Report 2023
Previous .ie Domain Profile Reports
