Liquor licences 2024
NM
2025-07-09
Liquor Licences in Northern Ireland 2024
An Official
Statistics publication
Published by:
Analytics Division, Department for Communities
Frequency: Annual
Publication Date: 31 July 2025
Key points
- At 31 December 2024, there were 1,113 liquor licences for public houses.
- Of the local government districts, Newry, Mourne and Down had the highest number of liquor licences for public houses (164).
- The split of liquor licences for public houses between rural and urban locations was 48% rural and 52% urban.
- Of the district electoral areas, Botanic (Belfast) had the highest number of liquor licences for public houses (58).
- At 31 December 2024, there were 678 liquor licences for off-licences.
Introduction
This is the fourth publication providing the number of liquor licences in Northern Ireland. Legislation passed by the NI Assembly specified that the Department for Communities (DfC) must publish information on the number of liquor licences held by off-licences and public houses annually. It further specified that data in relation to public houses should be available at the District Electoral Area (DEA) level.
This publication includes information on:
Data in relation to liquor licences was provided to DfC by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). The NICTS holds data on the number of liquor licences that are held in Northern Ireland by types of premises.
More information relating to the data, definitions and the interpretations of the figures can be found in the Definitions and technical notes section. Data tables are available in Excel and ODS format on the publication web page.
Lead Statistician: Celeste McCallion
Overall number of liquor licences
As of the 31 December 2024, there were 1,113 liquor licences for public houses in Northern Ireland. This is an increase of 4 (0.4%) on the December 2023 figure (1,109) but is still fewer than the 2021 figure (1,193).
There were 678 liquor licences for off-licences in Northern Ireland as of the 31 December 2024. This continues the increasing trend over the previous three years: 2023 (655), 2022 (641) and 2021 (637).
Liquor licences for public houses - by urban/rural
Just over half, 52%, of liquor licences held by public houses are located in areas classified as urban, with the remaining 48% in areas classified as rural. This urban/rural split has remained fairly consistent over the four years data is available.
Liquor licences for public houses - by multiple deprivation measure
Just over a third, 35%, of liquor licences held by public houses are located in areas within the most deprived quintile based on the 2017 Multiple Deprivation Measure (MDM). Just over a quarter, 26%, are located in areas within the second most deprived quintile based on MDM. One in twenty (5%) liquor licences held by public houses are located in areas within the least deprived quintile based on MDM. This breakdown is similar to that in the previous three years data is available for (2021-23).
Liquor licences for public houses by Local Government District (LGD)
There is variation in the number of liquor licences held by public houses in each LGD.The LGD with the highest number of liquor licences held by public houses is Newry, Mourne and Down with 164 licences, while Lisburn and Castlereagh has the lowest number with 35 licences. These LGDs have had the highest and lowest number of liquor licences held by public houses over the four years data is available (2021-24).
Liquor licences for public houses per 10,000 population by Local Government District (LGD)
Analysis of the number of liquor licences held by public houses per 10,000 of the population shows a range from 10.9 in Fermanagh and Omagh to 2.3 in Lisburn and Castlereagh. While the numbers have changed slightly when compared to the previous three years (2023: 11.0 to 2.3; 2022: 10.2 to 2.1; and 2021: 11.8 to 2.5), Fermanagh and Omagh has consistently had the highest number of liquor licences held by public houses, while Lisburn and Castlereagh has had the fewest.
Liquor licences for public houses by Local Government District (LGD) - urban / rural
Of the eleven LGDs, six have a higher percentage of liquor licences held by public houses within areas classified as urban while five have a higher percentage within areas classified as rural.
As expected, almost all (99%) liquor licences held by public houses in Belfast are in areas classified as urban. This is the same as 2023, 2022 and 2021.
In contrast, in Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and Omagh the proportion of liquor licences held by public houses in rural areas is 70% and 68% respectively.
Liquor licences for public houses by District Electoral Area (DEA)
The DEA with the highest number of liquor licences held by public houses is Botanic, in Belfast LGD, with 58. This is followed by The Moor, in Derry City and Strabane LGD, which has 40. There are no public houses holding a liquor licence in Lisburn South DEA (Lisburn and Castlereagh LGD), while there is only one public house holding a liquor licence in the following DEAs: Bangor West (Ards and North Down LGD), Killultagh (Lisburn and Castlereagh LGD), Knockagh (Mid and East Antrim LGD), Lisnasharragh (Belfast LGD) and Three Mile Water (Antrim and Newtownabbey LGD).
Between 2021 and 2024, the number of liquor licences held by public houses decreased most in Banbridge DEA (Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon LGD), from 25 to 19 and Crotlieve DEA (Newry, Mourne and Down LGD), from 25 to 13, both experienced a fall of 6. Lagan River DEA (Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon LGD) saw an increase of three public houses in the same period (from 7 to 10) and both Newry DEA (Newry, Mourne and Down LGD) and The Glens DEA (Causeway Coast and Glens LGD) an increase of two public houses (both from 25 to 27).
Liquor licences per 10,000 population by District Electoral Area (DEA)
The DEA with the highest number of liquor licences held by public houses per 10,000 of the population was The Moor (Derry City and Strabane LGD), with 22.8. This is followed by The Glens (Causeway Coast and Glens LGD) which has 15.6 and Erne North (Fermanagh and Omagh LGD) which has 13.3. Lisburn South (Lisburn and Castlereagh LGD) has no liquor licences held by public houses per 10,000 of the population. Lisnasharragh (Belfast LGD) has the second lowest concentration of liquor licences held by public houses per 10,000 of the population, with 0.3.
In terms of the DEAs with the highest and lowest number of liquor licences held by public houses per 10,000 of the population, 2024 was similar to 2023, 2022 and 2021, although The Glens swapped places with Erne North as the second highest number of liquor licences held by public houses per 10,000 of the population.
Definitions and technical notes
Basis for publication
The Licensing and Registration of Clubs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 states that the Department for Communities must, as soon as reasonably practicable, publish a statement of each of the following at 31 December in the previous year:
- the number of licences in force for premises of a kind mentioned in Article 5(1)(a) of the Licensing Order;
- the number of licences in force for premises of a kind mentioned in Article 5(1)(b) of the Licensing Order;
- the number of premises of a kind mentioned in Article 5(1)(a) of the Licensing Order in each district electoral area or, if the Department considers that it is feasible to reckon the number of such premises by reference to smaller areas, in each of those areas;
- the trends which may be observed from the numbers referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).
Premises under article 5(1)(a) are premises in which the business carried on under the licence is the business of selling intoxicating liquor by retail for consumption either in or off the premises i.e. public houses.
Premises under article 5(1)(b) are premises in which the business carried on under the licence is the business of selling intoxicating liquor by retail for consumption off the premises i.e. off-licences.
District Electoral Area (DEA)
There are a total of 80 DEAs across Northern Ireland. Ten of the eleven Local Government Districts have seven DEAs, while Belfast has a total of ten.
Urban/rural classification
The urban or rural classification of a public house has been determined by using the property postcode, the Central Postcode Directory and the Review of the Statistical Classification and Delineation of Settlements published by NISRA.
Deprivation
The data have been analysed by which deprivation quintile the public house is located in. This is estimated using the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 which is a weighted combination of seven domains of deprivation. Rank 1 indicates the most deprived Super Output Area (SOA), while rank 890 denotes the least deprived SOA. These are then grouped into ‘quintiles’, with the first quintile being the most deprived and the fifth quintile being the least deprived.
Licences per 10,000 population
By examining the number of liquor licences per 10,000 of population it is possible to take into account different populations across the various DEAs and LGDs. Since each DEA and LGD will have different population sizes, and they will also have a different number of public houses with a liquor licence, it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons across DEAs or LGDs simply by looking at overall numbers alone. As such, by calculating the rate of licences per 10,000 population, more appropriate comparisons can be made across the various geographies that this publication reports on.
Renewal of liquor licences
The Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 states that every five years, all licensed premises must renew their liquor licence. Licences expired on 30 September 2022. Applications to renew a licence must be submitted to the magistrate’s court by 9 August 2022. However, there may have been delays in applications being submitted, applications being granted or licence details being updated on to NICTS databases. As such, the number of liquor licences for public houses and off-licences as of 31 December 2022 may not be a true reflection of the number of liquor licences in force. This may account for some of the increase between 2022 and 2023.
Other notes
The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables: