Over 20 per cent of shops in Dublin are currently vacant, according to new figures supplied by information services firm Experian.
At present the retail vacancy rate for Dublin is 20.67 per cent and is projected to rise to 20.81 per cent by next February.
Experian's figures are compiled using its Goad database which provides retail information on over 2,300 town centre shopping areas, out-of-town retail parks and outlet villages in the UK and Ireland. It includes data on units which have previously been rented out to retailers and new units which have recently become available.
Overall, Limerick has the highest retail vacancy rate in Ireland with more than a quarter of its retail space currently unoccupied.
Experian forecasts that the vacancy rate in Limerick will rise to 27.39 per cent by February 2010 while in Cork, the number of empty stores will rise by 17.37 per cent to 18.54 per cent.
In Galway, the number of vacant stores is projected to increase from 13.65 per cent to 14.33 per cent.
Ireland's average vacancy rate of 14.1 per cent is two per cent higher than the UK average rate which stands at 12.5 per cent and almost one per cent higher than the Northern Irish figure which is 13.9 per cent.
"Overall, Dublin’s high vacancy rate is at odds with the large volume of space that was planned in and around the city over the last few years. Even pre-recession some of the schemes proposed were marginal at best," said Jonathan De Mello, director of Retail and Property at Experian.
"In the current climate, only those schemes that can deliver a clear commercial return on investment are likely to go ahead - for example, a scaled down Dublin Central, and extensions to Dundrum Town Centre and Blanchardstown. Should these schemes go ahead as planned, they will benefit from the fact that other schemes previously in the pipeline are now very unlikely to be realised," he added.
