Northern Ireland is home to 1.8 million people, with the capital Belfast the only cities with a population of more than 100,000. Its traditional industrial economy, most notably in shipbuilding, rope manufacture and textiles, has largely been replaced by services and it is consistently one of the least productive regions of the UK. Its output per hour in 2018 was 15.6% below the UK average, third from bottom among the 12 UK regions.
The Northern Ireland Forum is led by the Queen’s University Belfast. It is involved in the implementation of research insights, the design of practical business and policy interventions, and in providing input to the development of the Institute’s future research agenda.
Members include stakeholders from policy, community and business leaders from local, national and multinational enterprises.
Queen's University Belfast
Ulster University Business School
Queen's University Belfast
Allstate Northern Ireland
Queen's University Belfast
Manufacturing Northern Ireland
Dankse Bank
Queen's University Belfast
Retired Chief Executive
Ulster Bank
Belfast Metropolitan College
Senior Advisor, Ryobi Aluminium Casting Ltd. (Retired MD)
Pivotal
Department for the Economy Northern Ireland
Nevin Economic Research Institute
Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce
Kiverco
PwC
Nevin Economic Research Institute
The Northern Irish economy, which was once well-known for shipbuilding and the linen industry, has experienced severe structural headwinds as those industries experienced decline and have now disappeared. While the regional economy remains more concentrated in agriculture, construction and manufacturing relative to the rest of the UK, it is also seeing some new growth in specific areas of services, including the business services sector and the knowledge economy. However Northern Ireland has the worst productivity performance of any region in the UK, trailing 17% behind the UK and 29% behind the Republic of Ireland. This gap is a persistent feature of the local economy.
Northern Ireland does not share a land border with the UK mainland – a matter that has become more challenging with the UK’s exit from the EU in which Northern Ireland was granted a special status being still under intra-EU trade rules – but is also only part of the UK to share a land border with an EU member state, the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland needs to fully use its powers to tailor economic policy through devolution. Today, the Assembly at Stormont has key policy powers relevant to productivity, including education and skills, infrastructure, and economic and enterprise policy but post-Brexit tensions have meant departments have been left without devolved ministers since February 2022. Find insights in productivity in Northern Ireland below.
