Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey Statistics 2023
Date published:
The latest Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) statistics were released today by Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA).
The bulletin and tables can be accessed on the NISRA website. Corresponding figures for the whole of the UK were released today by the Office for National Statistics.
BRES is an annual statutory survey of businesses requesting information on working owners, employee jobs and business activity.
BRES represents the number of employee jobs rather than the number of persons with a job. As a result, a person holding both a full-time job and a part-time job, or someone with two part-time jobs, will be counted twice.
Key points
Employee jobs increased by 1.3% over the year to September 2023
- The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland as of September 2023 was 816,562. This represents an increase in employee jobs of 10,714 (1.3%) from September 2022.
- The number of employee jobs in the private and public sectors increased by 1.6% (9,240 jobs) and 0.7% (1,474) respectively.
Employee jobs declined in Construction
- The Construction industry witnessed a decline over the 12-month period to September 2023, falling by 2.4% (-903 jobs).
- The overall rise in employee jobs was largely driven by growth in the Service industry which increased by 9,173 jobs (1.4%). Employee jobs also increased in Manufacturing and Other industries.
- The Service industry dominated employee jobs in Northern Ireland, accounting for 81.4% (664,835) of the total. The second largest industry was Manufacturing with 89,370 jobs (10.9%).
Employee jobs increased in most District Council Areas in Northern Ireland
- Of the 11 District Council Areas in Northern Ireland, only Antrim and Newtownabbey (-1,172), and Derry City and Strabane (-701) saw a decline in the number of employee jobs over the year to September 2023. Belfast saw the largest absolute increase of 6,615 jobs, whilst Mid and East Antrim (3.8% or 1,656 jobs) saw the largest percentage increase.
Notes to editors:
1. The BRES data are disaggregated at sub-Northern Ireland geographical levels. The geographical information is, for the most part, based on the location of the jobs at a local unit level. Businesses often relocate employee jobs from one area to another. This causes changes in employee job counts at geographical levels. The relocation or change of reporting procedures by large employers can therefore affect BRES sub-NI analysis when making annual comparisons.
2. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to Responsible statistician: Neil Mulhern, Economic & Labour Market Statistics Branch (ELMS) neil.mulhern@nisra.gov.uk or Tel: 028 9025 5196.
3. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk
4. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
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