The commercial property vacancy rate in Ireland has increased to its highest level since tracking of the data began a decade ago.
The latest Commercial Buildings Report from GeoDirectory found that the vacancy rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to 14.3% in the year to the end of December.
That means there were a total of 30,046 empty commercial units across the country at the end of 2023, with the vacancy rate increasing in 20 of the 26 counties.
Sligo was found to have had the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country with just over fifth - 20.5% - of units vacant, followed by Galway at 18.5% and Donegal, where 18.2% of commercial units were unused.
Meath remained the county with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the state, where the rate stood at just above 10%.
It was closely followed by Wexford (10.5%) and Cork (12.2%), but Greystones in Co Wicklow was the town with the lowest commercial vacancy rate at 5.6%.
Edgeworthstown in Co Longford was the town with the highest vacancy rate at 30.2%.
In Dublin, the commercial vacancy rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to 13.2% at the end of 2023 which was the highest level recorded in Dublin since the end of 2016.
Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory, said the new high in the vacancy rate marked a continuation of a trend established in recent years.
"This trend can be attributed to a number of factors such as the rising cost of doing business, changing consumer habits and hybrid working. Consideration must now be given to how some of these vacant properties can be repurposed and reused, in order to avoid long-term vacancy and potential dereliction of these buildings," he said.
Annette Hughes, Director at EY Economic Advisory, who worked on the report said there was some light at the end of the tunnel.
"Businesses have been impacted by a series of factors over recent years which have led to challenging trading conditions for many and so this increase is not unexpected. On a more positive note, the continued easing of inflation, ongoing reductions in energy prices and the anticipated cuts in interest rates should hopefully provide some relief for businesses this year," she said.
Search commercial properties on MyHome.ie here.
