Key Points

  • In 2024, the income generated by non-financial businesses in Northern Ireland (NI), less the cost of goods and services used to create this income, was estimated to be £43.6 billion. This amount represents the approximate Gross Value Added (aGVA) at basic prices of the NI non-financial business economy, excluding farming and financial services.

  • aGVA at basic prices represents the income generated by businesses, out of which is paid wages and salaries, the cost of capital investment and financial charges before arriving at a figure for profit.

Change between 2023-24

  • The NI non-financial business economy, as measured by the Northern Ireland Annual Business Inquiry (NIABI), recorded an increase of £3.8 billion (9.6%) in aGVA from 2023 to 2024.

  • The key driver of aGVA growth was the Construction sector (Section F) which increased by £1.7 billion (30.7%) between 2023 and 2024.

  • The Distribution sector (Section G) also showed a large increase in aGVA of £1.3 billion (14.5%) from £9.0 billion to £10.3 billion. Manufacturing within the Production sector (Section C) recorded aGVA growth of £881 million (15.2%).

  • Turnover (i.e. the value of total sales and work done) in the NI non-financial business economy as a whole increased by £7.6 billion (7.5%) over the year to £109.3 billion and purchases of goods, materials, energy, water and services increased by £3.0 billion (4.7%) to £66.8 billion.


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Accredited official statistics status mean that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value, and it is our responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards. These statistics were accredited as National Statistics in 2012 following a full assessment against the Code of Practice for Statistics. Since the assessment by the UK Statistics Authority, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:

  • Provided information on the use of the ABI and comparability with other similar statistics.
  • Enhanced quality by providing information to users on quality assurance, methodology and explanations of statistical terms.
  • Redesigned the Annual Business Inquiry report, improving explanatory material including charts, tables and data visualisations.

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1 Introduction and Context

This release contains 2024 provisional and 2023 revised reporting unit results from the Northern Ireland Annual Business Inquiry (NIABI). The NIABI is a key resource for measuring the size, performance and structure of the Northern Ireland non-financial business economy. It is a survey of businesses covering the Production, Construction, Distribution and Service industries plus an element of Agriculture and covers roughly two thirds of the total NI economy. Public sector bodies are excluded from the survey. Further information on survey coverage is contained in the background notes.

The results reported in this release are fully consistent with figures published in the NI Economic Trade Statistics produced by NISRA.

Effect of inflation on Annual Business Inquiry results

Where a large change in approximate Gross Value Added (aGVA) is recorded over the year, it is normal practice to query the data with businesses. In many cases, the changes in aGVA over the years 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 were explained by businesses stating they experienced increasing prices. An appropriate set of NI specific deflators to produce inflation-adjusted data does not exist and it is not possible at this point to isolate the effects of inflation in this data. Therefore, all values are presented in current prices.

This anecdotal feedback is supported by trends reported in the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), as published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The CPIH shows that prices began to rise from early 2021 rising to a high in October 2022 and still remaining above the levels seen in 2020, prior to the spike. Users should bear in mind that this is the “All Items” series and is composed of multiple product groups, each with their own individual price index.

Figure 2: CPIH Annual Rate: All Items (2015 = 100, January 2014 - December 2024)

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS)


NISRA Data Portal

To support this release, further sectoral data is available via the NISRA data portal.


For Further Information

Further information on the ABI can be accessed on the NISRA website.


2 Summary and Commentary

The diagrams below show how aGVA is calculated and provides a high-level overview of the top line results with more detailed information presented in the subsequent sections.

Figure 3: Turnover, Purchases and aGVA, 2024 (£ billions)

A line graph showing the yearly trend in the CPIH measure of inflation



An infographic illustrating the mathematical derivation of the value of aGVA

2.1 Turnover, purchases and approximate Gross Value Added (aGVA)

The provisional results of the 2024 NIABI show that turnover in the NI non-financial business economy increased by 7.5% to £109.3 billion in 2024. The value of purchases of goods, materials, energy, water and services increased by 4.7%, from £63.8 billion in 2023 to £66.8 billion in 2024. The turnover generated by businesses in Northern Ireland, less the cost of goods and services used to create this income, was estimated to be £43.6 billion in 2024. This is an increase of 9.6% (£3.8 billion) from 2023 and represents the aGVA of the NI non-financial business economy (see section iv in background notes for full details of industry coverage).


Figure 4 below shows the trends in turnover, purchases and aGVA between 2008 to 2024 with further details on the industrial section estimates for turnover, purchases and aGVA for 2024 provided in Figure 5.

Figure 4: Trends in NI total Turnover, Purchases and aGVA, 2008 - 2024 (£ billions)

Figure 4 Data Source: NISRA Data Portal - ABI01


2.2 aGVA by Industrial Section

Looking at industrial section rather than broad industrial sector, Figure 5 shows the aGVA for each Industrial Section in 2024. This should be considered in conjunction with Figure 6, which shows how the aGVA for each Industrial Section has changed between 2023 and 2024.

It can be seen from Figure 5 that in terms of 2024 aGVA, Wholesale and retail trade is notably the largest industrial section, accounting for 23.7% (£10.3 billion) of total aGVA in the NI non-financial business economy.

Figure 5: Turnover, Purchases and aGVA by industrial section, 2024 (£ billions)

Figure 5 Data Source: NISRA Data Portal - ABI01


Figure 6 shows that Construction section was ranked first among those sections that experienced growth between 2023 and 2024 (£1.73 billion; 30.7%).

The largest industrial section, Wholesale and retail trade section was ranked second among those sections that experienced growth between 2023 and 2024 (£1.31 billion; 14.5%).

Figure 6: Change in aGVA by industrial section, 2023 - 2024 (£ billions)

Figure 6 Data Source: NISRA Data Portal - ABI01


2.3 Production Industries (Sections B-E)

Sections B through E have been grouped to reflect the structure of the Northern Ireland production industries. These include: Mining and quarrying (Section B); Manufacturing (Section C); Electricity, steam and air conditioning supply (Section D); Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (Section E).

The Production sector, which accounts for 20.6% of aGVA in the NI non-financial business economy (see Figure 1), recorded a decrease of £198 million (-2.2%) between 2023 and 2024. Turnover (i.e. the value of total sales and work done) in the sector showed a decrease of £525 million (-2.1%) over the same period in question, with purchases also decreasing by £312 million (-1.9%).

Figure 7: NI Production Sector: aGVA by Industrial Section, 2024 (£ millions)

Figure 7 Data Source: NISRA Data Portal - ABI01


Between 2023 and 2024:

  • Mining and quarrying (Section B) showed the largest growth in aGVA with an increase of £49 million (26.4%);

  • At a decline of £247 million, Manufacturing (Section C) saw with the overall largest fall in aGVA (-3.7%);

  • Energy Generation and Supply (Section D) increased by £27 million (2.4%), whereas Water Supply and Waste (Section E) decreased by £27 million (-2.2%).

Manufacturing Manufacturing (Section C) is the largest component industry in the Production sector, and accounts for 17.9% (£6.7 billion) of total aGVA in the non-financial business economy. Between 2023 and 2024, aGVA in the Manufacturing section showed an increase of £881 million (15.2%).


2.4 Construction Industries (Section F)

The Construction industries cover the entire Northern Ireland construction sector, include construction of buildings, civil engineering, and specialised construction activities (e.g. demolition and site preparation, electrical, plumbing and other construction installation activities, etc).

Up until 2020, Construction (Section F) aGVA had grown for the previous six consecutive years, increasing from £1.8 billion in 2014 to £3.1 billion in 2019. In 2020, however, aGVA fell to £2.6 billion. This was followed by strong growth in 2021, which has continued from 2023 to 2024, with aGVA rising by £1.7 billion (30.7%) to £7.4 billion.

Between 2023 and 2024:

  • Turnover increased by 29.4% to £16.7 billion;

  • Purchases increased by 24.5% to £9.5 billion; and

  • aGVA increased by 30.7% to £7.4 billion.


2.5 Distribution Industries (Section G)

The distribution industries consist of companies engaged in wholesale and retail trade and cover the entire Northern Ireland wholesale and retail sector.

Wholesale and retail trade (Section G) showed an increase in aGVA, growing by £1.3 billion (14.5%) from 2023 (£9.0 billion) to 2024 (£10.3 billion). Within this was a large increase in turnover of £3.1 billion (8.3%) and an increase in purchases of £1.4 billion (5.0%).


2.6 Services Industries (Section H-S) - Non-Financial

The non-financial services sector is composed of Transport and storage (Section H); Accommodation and food service activities (Section I); Information and communication (Section J); Real estate activities (Section L); Professional scientific and technical activities (Section M); Administrative and support service activities (Section N); and other service activities that are grouped to avoid disclosure of returns (Sections P-S). Note: Section K, Financial and insurance activities, are excluded.

The Services sector represents almost two-fifths (38.4%), £16.7 billion, of aGVA in the NI non-financial business economy and, as such, even small movements in the services sector can have a pronounced effect on overall trends. For example, between 2023 and 2024 aGVA in the Services sector increased by 6.0% (£0.9 billion) to £16.7 billion.

Figure 8: NI Non-financial Services Industries: aGVA, 2024 (£ millions)

Figure 8 Data Source: NISRA Data Portal - ABI01


Turnover in the services industries increased by 4.6% (£1.2 billion) to £27.0 billion. Purchases of goods and services recorded a small increase of £2.4 million to £10.7 billion.

Within the services sector, Professional, scientific and technical activities (Section M) is the largest component industry, accounting for 21.6% (£3.6 billion) of the total aGVA in the sector. This is followed by Administrative and support services which account for 17.3% (£2.9 billion) of the Service sector aGVA.


Contact Details

Published by: Economic and Labour Market Statistics Branch, Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency

Lead Statistician: Ross Hume

Telephone: 028 9025 5173

Email: economicstats@nisra.gov.uk

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