Economic Output Statistics - September 2025

Date published: 18 September 2025

Commentary

• Output in the services sector increased by 2.4% over the second quarter of 2025, reaching a series high, and by 3.4% over the year.
• Retail output in NI saw a quarterly increase of 4.7% in Quarter 2 2025 and an increase of 12.1% over the year to reach a series high.
• Production sector output saw an increase of 1.2% over the second quarter of 2025 and increased by 3.2% over the year.
• When comparing current output with the pre-Coronavirus pandemic levels seen in Quarter 4 2019, NI service output is 13.5% above its pre-pandemic level, NI production output is 5.7% above its pre-pandemic level, and NI retail output is now 7.5% above its pre-pandemic level.

Services Sector Output

• The NI IOS increased by 2.4% over the second quarter of 2025 (April - June) and by 3.4% over the year, reaching a series high. UK output increased by 0.3% over the quarter and by 1.2% over the year, to reach a new UK series high.
• When the most recent four quarters are compared to the previous four quarters the NI services sector increased by 2.4% while the UK services sector increased by 1.5%.
• NI services output is now 13.5% above the pre-Coronavirus pandemic level seen in Quarter 4 2019 while UK services output is 6.0% above its Quarter 4 2019 level.
• The NI IOS output is 44.6% higher than the series low point (Quarter 2 2020).
• The 2.4% quarterly increase in NI services output reflected an increase in all four sectors. The Business services and finance sector increased by 3.2%, the Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; accommodation and food service sector increased by 1.2%, the Other services sector increased by 6.1% and the Transport, storage, information and communications sector increased by 0.1%.
• The 3.4% increase seen in NI services output over the year was driven by an increase in the Business services and finance sector (0.9%) and the Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; accommodation and food service sector (5.5%). This was offset by decreases in the Other services sector (0.6%) and the Transport, storage, information and communications sector (0.3%).

Retail Sector Output

• The retail sales sector refers to SIC 47 (Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles) and is a subset of the Index of Services (IOS).
• Retail output in NI saw an increase of 4.7% in Quarter 2 2025 and an increase of 12.1% over the year to reach a series high. GB RSI output saw an increase of 0.3% over the quarter and an increase of 0.9% over the year.
• NI RSI output is now 7.5% above the pre-Coronavirus pandemic level seen in Quarter 4 2019 while GB RSI output remains 2.8% below its Quarter 4 2019 level.
• When the most recent four quarters are compared to the previous four quarters the NI retail sector increased by 7.7% while the GB retail sector increased by 0.9%.

Production Sector Output

• The NI IOP increased by 1.2% over the quarter (April - June) and increased by 3.2% over the year. The UK IOP decreased by 0.3% over the quarter and increased by 0.3% over the year.
• When the most recent four quarters are compared to the previous four quarters, the NI production sector increased by 2.3% while the UK production sector decreased by 0.7%.
• The NI IOP is 5.7% above the pre-Coronavirus pandemic level seen in Quarter 4 2019, while the UK IOP remains 8.6% below its Quarter 4 2019 level.
• Over the quarter the increase in NI production output was driven by a rise in all four main sectors - Manufacturing (2.1%), Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (1.6%), Water supply, sewerage and waste management (Inc. recycling) (0.4%) and Mining and quarrying (1.1%).
• Similarly, over the year the increase in NI production output was driven by a rise in all four main sectors – Manufacturing (4.3%), Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (1.3%), Water supply, sewerage and waste management (Inc. recycling) (3.8%) and Mining and quarrying (12.1%).

Upcoming Releases

• The NI Composite Economic Index and Quarterly Construction Enquiry are scheduled for publication on 25 September 2025.
• The Index of Production and Index of Services reports for Quarter 3 2025 will be published on 18 December 2025.
• The next Labour Market Report will be published on 14 October 2025.