According to a domain profile report released by IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the .IE ccTLD had 221,871 registrations at the end of 2016. The report shows a 5% increase on 2015 registration numbers. In 2016, 34,615 new domains were registered and it was the second highest number of registrations in a single year since 2011.
The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) released a domain profile report in January 2017, highlighting the milestones that the extension has achieved in 2016. IEDR manages and administers Ireland’s official domain name, .IE, in the interest of the Irish and global Internet communities.
Out of the domains registered in 2016, 72% of all new domains were registered by businesses, either sole traders or corporate bodies. This, they reported, is in line with previous figures and suggests that Irish businesses recognize the importance of a website to their brand and value the .IE brand.
As against big companies, it was highlighted that SMEs still do not fully appreciate the importance of an online presence, particularly e-commerce. The recent .IE Digital Health Index showed that only 28% of Irish SMEs can process sales online, while two-thirds of offline SMEs do not see the need to have a website. There is also a continued trend of urban areas registering more .IE domains than the rural parts of the country.
The area-wise distribution suggests that registrants in Dublin and Leinster make up the majority of .IE domain owners. Registrations in Munster and Ulster reportedly rose in 2016 and Cork, the second most populous county in the Republic of Ireland, registered 11,350 fewer domains than Dublin.
In a statement, David Curtin, Chief Executive at IEDR said:
The Irish internet industry, business associations and government must continue to work together to make sure that the full benefits of our digital society are being felt by SMEs and private individuals across the country, regardless of geography.