The most common mode of inland passenger transportation was passenger cars, which accounted for nearly 80 percent of all passenger movement in 2016. Buses and coaches followed at 17.2 percent, while railways only made up a small portion of modes used. In terms of air travel, the number of those journeying to the United Kingdom by airplane has been increasing in recent years and amounted to 12.8 million in 2017. In the same time period, sea travel for the UK journey was in decline.
Volkswagen led a ranking of bestselling car brands in the country, having sold 13,775 units in 2018. The German carmaker was followed by Toyota and Hyundai. Annual car sales reached their peak in 2016, with 146,647 new vehicles on the roads in Ireland. However, by 2018, new registrations had decreased to 125,557 units.
All roads in the country combined to a length of close to 100,000 kilometers, of which motorways made up less than one percent. In contrast, the Irish railway network was 1,894 kilometers long.
