IE-Annual-Report-2023

.ie – the domain of choice The .ie domain now accounts for 54.3% of all top level domains hosted in Ireland, up 0.7 percentage point year-on-year, followed by .com (29.3%) and .uk (7.3%) – see below. It continues to be the domain-of-choice for Irish business, communities and citizens. The trustworthiness of a .ie domain is also internationally recognised by The SpamHaus Project, an international non-profit organisation that tracks spam and related cyber threats. A .ie website is a great way for Irish businesses to demonstrate their trustworthiness to customers. Market share of Ireland’s hosted domains, by top-level domain  .com 29.3%  .uk 7.3%  .eu 2.3%  .net 1.9%  .org 1.8%  Others 3.1% Source: HosterStats Dec 2023 .ie 54.3% .ie is “Unique to Ireland” – an online digital identity 91% of all .ie registrations are from the Island of Ireland. The geographical analysis of the .ie database at the end of 2023 indicated that registrations were from: The Republic of Ireland – 293,136 (89%); Northern Ireland – 4,914 (2%); and international – 30,198 (9%). As part of the .ie registration process, applicants for .ie domains in foreign countries will have provided evidence of a proven connection to Ireland and so the registered owner is always traceable, an important issue for consumers and authorities. They either have business operations and customers in Ireland or have provided evidence of another type of professional or personal connection to Ireland. International ccTLD comparatives There are more than 240 country code top-level domain extensions (ccTLDs) worldwide, including .ie. Compared to twenty-six other European countries, Ireland ranks 21st, with 66 country code .ie domains per 1,000 of population. Using this metric, Ireland ranks ahead of or is comparable to, European countries with larger populations, including Italy (59 .it domains per 1,000), France (58 .fr domains per 1,000), Spain (42 .es domains per 1,000). However, Ireland ranks behind several European countries with similar populations, including Denmark (249 .dk domains) and Norway (153 .no domains). Our nearest neighbours in the UK have 166 .uk domains per 1,000 of population. Commentators attribute this to Ireland’s slow start in building out early Internet infrastructure, compared to European neighbours, which had intense competition amongst Internet service providers and cable operators, which drove domain adoption during the .com boom timeframe. Content Marketing – supporting the business community Throughout 2023, we continued to support the business community in Ireland with a range of promotional initiatives. Our objective is to help them celebrate excellence in digital processes, e-commerce and digital marketing. Indirectly, this helps to promote the .ie domain name and to encourage Internet usage and digital development. By providing useful, relevant and informative digital content, we continued to build and strengthen relationships with key SME and micro-enterprise representative bodies such as the Local Enterprise Offices, Retail Excellence, Digital Business Ireland, Guaranteed Irish, Hardware Association of Ireland and the All Ireland Business Foundation. By working with these representative bodies, we engage with their networks to promote the benefits of digital adoption and e-commerce. 100% <0% Analysis of .ie domains by county % difference in new .ie registrations 2023 v 2022 Donegal Donegal recorded the largestpercentage growth (+34.55%) innew .iedomain registrations compared to2022. Waterford Waterfordfeatures inthe topperformerswitha 16.65% increase innew .iedomain registrations 2023vs2022. Kildare Kildarecontinues its stronggrowthof13.14%. Kildarenowmakesup5% ofall .iedomains in Ireland. Sligo Amongst theborder counties,Sligohasshown stronggrowthof16.91% in .iedomain registrations 2023vs2022. Westmeath InLeinster,Westmeath leadsthewaywith18.72 %YoYgrowthcompared to2022. Monaghan With22.06%growth innew .iedomain registrations,2023 vs2022,Monaghan continues tobuildon its growth in2022 (+8.4%). < -10% -0.01– -10% 0–5% 5%–10% 10%–20% 20%–50% Source: .IE Domain Profile Report 2023 Business Review IE Domain Registry CLG t/a .IE / Annual Report & Review 2023 24