Northern Ireland Annual Business Inquiry Statistics 2015

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has today released headline results from the 2015 Northern Ireland Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) survey.

Growth in aGVA and turnover between 2014 and 2015

The key findings include:

• Total aGVA was estimated to be worth £20.1 billion at basic prices in 2015. This is the first time that aGVA has exceeded £20 billion as measured by the Annual Business Inquiry. This represented a rise of 1.8% (£350 million) compared to 2014.
• Turnover for NI businesses increased by 0.7% between 2014 and 2015 to £66.7 billion, while the cost of purchases of goods, services and energy declined by 0.8% to £43.4 billion.

Growth driven by strong increases in the construction and Services sectors

• Following five consecutive years of decline between 2008 and 2013, the Construction sector showed growth in 2014 and this recovery continued into 2015. Turnover recorded a 9.3% increase year-on-year, growing from £5.5 billion to £6.0 billion. Purchases increased by 5.6% over the year, while aGVA increased by 17.3%, from £1.8 billion in 2014 to £2.2 billion in 2015.
• aGVA in the NI Non-financial services sector increased by 3.5% (£251 million) to £7.3 billion in 2015. Key contributors to this increase include:

1. Other service activities, including education, human health, entertainment and recreation (+£85m or 8.8%)
2. Administrative and support service activities (+£51m or 4.6%)
3. Accommodation and food service activities (+£45m or 6.0%)

Decline or flat growth in Distribution and Production sectors

• The Distribution industries consist of companies engaged in Wholesale and retail trade and cover the entire Northern Ireland wholesale and retail sector. aGVA in the Distribution industries recorded a decline of 4.7% between 2014 and 2015. There was also a decline in both turnover (2.1%) and purchases (1.9%). A number of factors contributed to this decline, including falling oil and dairy prices during 2015.
• The production sector recorded marginal growth between 2014 and 2015, with a 0.3% increase in aGVA.

Notes to editors: 

1. Full detailed results are available in the Northern Ireland Annual Business Inquiry Statistics Bulletin from the NISRA website.

2. For media enquiries contact DFE Press Office on 028 9052 9604. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974383 and your call will be returned.

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