Web Sales and E-Commerce by Enterprise Size in Ireland: CSO Figures 2023 to 2025

The CSO's table ICA231 gives 32.6% of "All Enterprises" as "Enterprises with web sales" in 2025, against 35.9% in 2024 and 30.4% in 2023. The results cover enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services, not every business in Ireland. By size class the table gives "Enterprises with web sales" at 30.6% for "Small (10 to 49)", 42.6% for "Medium (50 to 249)" and 41.5% for "Large (250 or more)" in 2025. The percentage-point changes on this page are ours. Table ICA231 has no sector breakdown, so it gives no figure for cafés.

What share of enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services had web sales in 2025?

The CSO's table ICA231 gives 32.6% for "Enterprises with web sales" among "All Enterprises" in 2025. For "Enterprises with sales by internet" it gives 37.5% for "All Enterprises" in 2025. The release says: "In 2025, almost two in five enterprises (37.5%) in Ireland had e-commerce sales." The release uses the words "e-commerce sales" for that figure, and the table label is "Enterprises with sales by internet". We do not claim the two terms are the same beyond the release's own use.

The Background Notes set the coverage: "The results cover enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in the manufacturing, construction and selected services sectors." The Background Notes to the 2024 and 2023 releases carry the same sentence, for the 2024 and 2023 surveys. So the 32.6% for 2025 is for that group. It is not a figure for businesses in general.

How do the three statistics differ by enterprise size?

In 2025 the table gives a share for each of the three statistics in each size class, and the table below has all of them. For "Enterprises with web sales" in 2025 it gives 30.6% for "Small (10 to 49)", 42.6% for "Medium (50 to 249)" and 41.5% for "Large (250 or more)". In 2025, "Medium (50 to 249)" is above "Large (250 or more)" for web sales, 42.6% against 41.5% (ours, a comparison of figures only).

For "Enterprises with sales by internet" in 2025 the table gives 34.9% for "Small (10 to 49)", 50.2% for "Medium (50 to 249)" and 53.5% for "Large (250 or more)". For 2025 the release says: "For large enterprises, 53.5% had internet sales, compared with 50.2% of medium sized enterprises and 34.9% of small enterprises." For "Enterprises with EDI sales" in 2025 the table gives 8.6% for "Small (10 to 49)", 17.6% for "Medium (50 to 249)" and 29.2% for "Large (250 or more)".

How have web sales by enterprises changed since 2023?

For "All Enterprises" the table gives "Enterprises with web sales" at 30.4% in 2023, 35.9% in 2024 and 32.6% in 2025. The 2025 figure is 2.2 percentage points above 2023 (ours) and 3.3 percentage points below 2024 (ours). We give no reason for the changes, because table ICA231 gives none.

For "Small (10 to 49)" the table gives 28.8% in 2023, 34.2% in 2024 and 30.6% in 2025. For "Medium (50 to 249)" it gives 38.7% in 2023, 43.9% in 2024 and 42.6% in 2025. For "Large (250 or more)" it gives 37.0% in 2023, 42.4% in 2024 and 41.5% in 2025. All thirty-six figures for 2023 to 2025, for all three statistics, are in the table below and in the CSV.

What do the CSO's terms for web sales and e-commerce mean?

We use only the CSO's own definitions. The Background Notes say: "Web sales are sales made via an online store (web shop), via web forms on a website or extranet, or apps." The release says: "An e-commerce sale is a sale conducted over computer networks via websites, apps or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) of goods or services." We add no definition of our own.

Does this tell us about cafés?

Not directly. Table ICA231 gives no sector breakdown, so it has no figure for cafés, and we do not estimate one. The coverage is enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services. For related reading, see our page on adding a menu to a Google Business Profile.

Where do these numbers come from?

They come from the CSO table ICA231 "E-Commerce", by "Enterprise Size Class", updated 6 February 2026. We read it on 30 October 2026. The release sentences we quote come from the E-Commerce section of the CSO release "Information Society Statistics - Enterprises 2025", and we also quote its Background Notes. The table gives the unit as "%", and the release words them as shares of enterprises.

You can download the figures as a CSV. If you cite the figures: Cupán Studio, from CSO table ICA231, read 30 October 2026. For another table from the same CSO release, see enterprise use of artificial intelligence in Ireland.

E-commerce statistics, %, CSO table ICA231, by size class and year. Enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services.

Statistic and size class	2023	2024	2025
Enterprises with sales by internet
All Enterprises	35.6	40.4	37.5
Small (10 to 49)	33.1	37.9	34.9
Medium (50 to 249)	46.5	51.3	50.2
Large (250 or more)	50.5	53.7	53.5
Enterprises with web sales
All Enterprises	30.4	35.9	32.6
Small (10 to 49)	28.8	34.2	30.6
Medium (50 to 249)	38.7	43.9	42.6
Large (250 or more)	37.0	42.4	41.5
Enterprises with EDI sales
All Enterprises	10.3	10.8	10.5
Small (10 to 49)	8.1	9.0	8.6
Medium (50 to 249)	18.9	16.3	17.6
Large (250 or more)	27.5	25.9	29.2

Sources

• Central Statistics Office, table ICA231, E-Commerce, updated 6 February 2026, read 30 October 2026.
• Central Statistics Office, Information Society Statistics - Enterprises 2025, including E-Commerce and Background Notes, read 30 October 2026.
• Central Statistics Office, Background Notes to Information Society Statistics - Enterprises 2024 and Information Society Statistics - Enterprises 2023, read 30 October 2026.

Figures from CSO table ICA231, read 30 October 2026; changes in percentage points are ours. A summary of published statistics, not advice. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.