Irish ports saw an increase of almost 7 per cent in the volume of goods handled in 2015, new data from the Central Statistics Office showed.

Almost 51 million tonnes of goods were handled last year, a rise of 3.2 million tonnes on 2014 figures.

The data showed goods forwarded fell by 7.5 per cent to 17 million tonnes for the 12 month period, and goods received increased almost 16 per cent to 33.6 million tonnes, accounting for two-thirds of goods handled in terms of tonnage. That rose from 61 per cent a year earlier.

The number of vessels arriving in Irish ports was only marginally higher at 0.3 per cent, with 12,242 coming here.

The CSO data showed the routes between Dublin and Holyhead, Milford Haven and Liverpool were busiest for goods received.