DUBLIN, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of overseas visitors to Ireland stood at 1.02 million in May, up 8.7 percent compared with the same month last year, according to statistics released by Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Ireland on Wednesday.

Britain was the country that made up the largest number of overseas visitors to Ireland last month, said the CSO. A total of 349,900 British tourists visited Ireland in the month, up 6.8 percent over a year ago.

The sharpest growth was in visitors from European countries other than Britain: a 12.4-percent rise year-on-year, or a total of 385,300 people from the region.

Last month, a total of 234,700 people from the United States and Canada visited Ireland, up 9.8 percent year-on year, whereas a total of 55,800 people from the other parts of the world visited the country, down 5.9 percent year-on-year, said the CSO.

According to the CSO, a total of 3.84 million overseas residents visited Ireland in the first five months of this year, up 7.64 percent compared with the corresponding period of last year.