Northern Ireland Business Demography Statistics 2024

Date published: 3 February 2026

The data are sourced from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a register of all Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE) registered businesses in the UK.  The IDBR covers most of the economy including key industrial sectors.  It does not hold details on small businesses that fall below the VAT threshold (£90,000 in 2024) or do not operate a PAYE scheme. 

The demography statistics detailed in this output are consistent with the UK demography statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and allows for international comparisons. These statistics are based on businesses registered in Northern Ireland only and exclude Agriculture and the public sector.  The number of businesses with an active VAT and/or PAYE registration in Northern Ireland throughout 2024 was approximately 65,700.  These registrations accounted for 2.3% of the total active, registered UK business population, estimated to be 2.9 million for the same period.

Business demography statistics measure changes in these registrations over the calendar year.  New business registrations are referred to as births and business de‑registrations are referred to as deaths.  A business birth does not necessarily equate to a new business starting and a business death does not necessarily equate to a business closing.

The ONS produces the UK Business Demography report.  The most recent data was published on 20 November 2025. 

Key points:

Key points from the Northern Ireland Business Demography bulletin are listed below.

There were 6,240 business births in Northern Ireland during 2024, a large increase of 16.2% on the previous year.

• The business birth rate (number of births as a proportion of active businesses) in Northern Ireland was 9.5% in 2024, the first increase since 2021.
• Northern Ireland saw the largest increase in its business birth rate of the four UK regions compared with the previous year. However, this is still the lowest birth rate across the UK

There were 4,790 business deaths in Northern Ireland in 2024, a decrease of 3.6% on the previous year.

• The business death rate in Northern Ireland (7.3%) has fluctuated between 6.6% and 8.0% since 2014 and is the lowest it has been since 2020.
• Business death rates, when compared with 2023, showed decreases across all four regions within the UK. The death rate in the UK (9.8%) is at its lowest since 2016.

The number of business births was greater than the number of deaths in all eleven Local Government Districts (LGDs).

• Business birth rates increased for seven of the eleven LGDs in Northern Ireland in the year to December 2024. Derry City & Strabane LGD had the highest business birth rate (15.1%), whilst Mid Ulster had the lowest birth rate (6.8%).
• Business death rates decreased across eight LGDs over the same twelve‑month period.  Derry City & Strabane became the LGD with the highest death rate (9.9%), replacing Lisburn & Castlereagh that saw the largest decline in its business death rate, from 9.2% to 7.4%. Fermanagh & Omagh had the lowest death rate (5.2%) across the region, replacing Mid Ulster which had the lowest death rate for the previous seven years. 

The business birth rate is highest for Business administration & support services with the death rate being highest for the Transport & storage industry.

• Business birth rates have decreased for four of the 15 broad industry groups.
• Construction had the highest number of business births in 2024 (895), although this was a decrease of 2.7% on the previous year. Retail saw the largest actual increase, up by 250 births compared with 2023. Production (220) and Wholesale (150) also saw large increases.
• The number of business deaths in Production (465) was the highest seen since 2009, whilst Retail (560) saw its highest figure since 2013.
• The number of business births were greater than deaths for all but one of the 15 broad industry groups, with Finance & insurance being the exception.