Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- More than 2,000 rural Irish pubs may close in the next 10 to 15 years as changes to legislation and a weakening economy lead people to curtail spending on nights out, according to a study.

Some 31 percent of bars outside the Dublin area don’t expect their venue to continue as a licensed premises after the current owner retires, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland said today in a report on its Web site. Ireland has about 7,000 bars outside the capital, DIGI said.

Pub sales are falling as unemployment soars, amplifying a trend toward drinking at home. Almost three-quarters of Irish bars said sales have fallen in the last five years, the report shows. Revenue has also been affected after Ireland banned smoking in public places in 2004 and more recently cracked down on drink-driving.

“We’re looking at a fairly significant decline in numbers,” economist Anthony Foley, author of the report, said at a press conference in Dublin. “We’re looking at over two thousand rural pubs disappearing in the next decade or decade and a half.”

About 72 percent of pub owners surveyed said sales fell since 2004, while 15 percent said sales had increased, according to the study carried out among 748 Irish licensed premises.

Charlie Chawke, Chairman of the Licensed Vintners Association, which represents Dublin publicans, said at a separate conference today that bar sales have fallen by about 30 percent in the last two to three years. Banks have reduced overdrafts for pub owners by 50 percent, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Louisa Fahy at lnesbitt@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 2, 2009 08:56 EST