A National Statistics Publication
Published by: Economic and Labour Market Statistics,
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Theme: Labour Market
Coverage: Northern Ireland
Frequency: Annual

Contact: Andrew Dunn
Email:
Publication Date: 30 June 2022


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TABLES AND CHARTS

1. Key Points


  • The total employment in Northern Ireland in September 2021 was 823,672. The largest proportion of working owners was in Construction (6,112 or 14% of total Construction employment).

  • The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland in September 2021 was 792,626, an increase of 13,573 (1.7%) since September 2020.

  • The increase in employee jobs was mainly driven by growth in the Service industry (11,738 jobs) which was responsible for 86% of the total increase.

  • Construction jobs continued to grow with an increase of 0.8% (289 jobs) over the year to September 2021. However, growth was lower than in the previous year (3.1%).

  • The Manufacturing sector increased by 1,312 jobs (1.5%) over the year to September 2021. Manufacturing jobs remain below 2019 levels.

  • All district council areas in Northern Ireland saw an increase in employee jobs except for Antrim and Newtownabbey (2.2%) and Mid and East Antrim (1.7%) which saw a decline. Lisburn and Castlereagh experienced the largest percentage increase, with 2,212 (3.7%) additional jobs .


2. Employment


Northern Ireland employment estimates are available for 2021 at headline industry and district council area level.

Employment includes employees plus the number of working owners. Working owners include sole traders, sole proprietors, and partners, who receive drawings and/or a share of the profits but are not paid via pay-as-you-earn (PAYE).

  • The total employment in Northern Ireland in September 2021 was 823,672.

  • The largest proportion of working owners was in Construction (6,112 or 14% of total Construction employment).

  • The Northern Ireland employment figures by district council area are available on the NISRA website.


Table 1: Employment is the sum of employees and working owners.

Employment by Headline Industry, 2021
Headline Industry Employment
Construction 43,269
Manufacturing 89,024
Services 666,235
Other 25,145
Total 823,672

3. Gender and Working Pattern


  • The number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland was 792,626 at September 2021. This figure, and subsequent data in this report, includes agriculture employee job counts taken from the Agriculture Census in Northern Ireland, 2021.

  • Employee jobs were evenly split by gender, with just over half of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland occupied by females (51%). Just over two-thirds (67%) of employee jobs were full-time. The majority (81%) of male jobs were full-time, whereas female jobs were more evenly split by working pattern, with 53% full-time, and 47% part-time.

  • The profile of jobs by gender and working pattern remained largely unchanged since 2020.

  • Male and female full-time jobs increased over the year, by 3.3% and 3.4% respectively, while male and female part-time jobs declined over the year, by 2.3% and 0.9% respectively.


Figure 1: Male full-time jobs accounted for two-fifths of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland.

Percentage of employee jobs by Gender and Working Pattern, 2021

Figure 2: The number of full-time jobs increased by 3.3%, while the number of part-time jobs decreased by 1.3%.

Percentage change in employee jobs by Gender and Working Pattern, 2020 to 2021

4. Industry


  • The Service sector dominated employee jobs in Northern Ireland, accounting for 81% (644,469) of the overall total. The second largest industry was Manufacturing with 86,703 jobs (11%), and together, they accounted for over 9 in every 10 employee jobs (92%) in Northern Ireland. The headline industry profile of jobs remained unchanged from 2020.

  • The ONS employee jobs data indicate that Great Britain had a similar headline industry profile as Northern Ireland, in that it was dominated by the Service sector.

  • Employee jobs increased in all four headline industries over the year, following decreases in both Manufacturing and Services the previous year.

  • The number of employee jobs in the Manufacturing industry remained slightly below the 2019 value (0.7%), while the number of jobs in the Service sector was slightly above the 2019 value (0.8%).

  • Jobs in Construction have grown over the year to 2021 by 0.8% following on from growth the previous year of 3.1%.


Figure 3: The vast majority of employee jobs in Northern Ireland are in the Service sector.

Percentage of employee jobs by Headline Industry, 2021

Figure 4: The number of employee jobs increased in all four headline industries over the year to September 2021.

Percentage change in employee jobs by Headline Industry, 2020 and 2021


  • Over half (53%) of Service sector jobs are in Human health and social work, Wholesale and retail and, Education.

  • There were declines in four of the Service industries over the year, most notably in Transport and storage (2.7% or 778), and Other services (4.8% or 729).

  • Employee jobs in Information and communication grew by 9.5% (2,159) over the year, with the Financial and insurance industry also experiencing strong growth in employee jobs (7.0% or 1,297).

  • Accommodation and food services employee jobs grew over the year (2.5% or 1,239) but jobs in this sector remained below 2019 levels (4.4%). Arts, entertainment and recreation employee jobs declined over the year (0.9% or 127) and were 11% below 2019 estimates.


Figure 5: Over half of Service sector jobs are in Human health and social work, Wholesale and retail, and Education. Growth in the Service sector was driven by increases in Information and communication and, Financial and insurance industries.

Percentage change in employee jobs for Service Sector Industries, 2020 to 2021

  • Employee jobs in the Other headline industry accounted for 3.1% (24,298) of all jobs in Northern Ireland. These jobs are predominately in Agriculture, forestry and fishing (53% or 12,857); and Water, sewage, waste management and remediation (31% or 7,492).

  • Employee jobs in Water, sewerage waste management and remediation increased over the year (5.4% or 386), while those in Agriculture, forestry and fishing declined (2.3% or 297).

5. District Council Area


  • Almost half (48%) of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland were in three district council areas: Belfast; Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon; and Newry, Mourne and Down.

  • There was an increase in each district council area, with the exception of Antrim and Newtownabbey, which saw a decline of 2.2% (1,308) and, Mid and East Antrim, which saw a decline of 1.7% (733) over the year.

  • The largest increase was in Belfast, where an additional 6,345 jobs (2.8%) were observed, while Lisburn and Castlereagh saw the second largest increase in employee jobs with an additional 2,212 jobs (3.7%) over the year.


Map 1: Almost three in ten jobs in Northern Ireland are in Belfast City Council area (29%). Ards and North Down has the least number of employee jobs (one in twenty, or 5%).

Number of employee jobs by District Council Area, 2021

  • The majority of change observed at district council area was driven by the Service sector. This was particularly true of Belfast (6,983) and Lisburn and Castlereagh (1,630).

  • Antrim and Newtownabbey, Mid and East Antrim, and Mid Ulster saw a decline in jobs within the Service sector.

  • Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon saw the largest increase in Construction jobs over the year (15% or 592), while Derry City and Strabane saw a decline in Construction jobs (14% or 431).

  • Manufacturing jobs declined in Belfast (6.1% or 568), Derry City and Strabane (3.2% or 192) and, Mid and East Antrim (6.0% or 408). Mid Ulster saw the largest increase in Manufacturing jobs over the year (4.8% or 781).


Figure 6: The majority of change observed at district council area was driven by the Service sector. This was particularly true of Belfast, and Lisburn and Castlereagh.

Change in the number of employee jobs by District Council Area at Headline Industry, 2020 to 2021





6. Public/Private Sector


  • The public/private sector jobs profile in Northern Ireland remains unchanged from 2020 with almost three-quarters (73%) of jobs in the private sector. In the UK, private sector jobs accounted for 82% of the total in September 2020 (BRES 2020, ONS).

  • The majority of public sector jobs in 2021 were held by females (68%) while the majority of private sector jobs were held by males (55%).

  • Just over two-thirds of private sector jobs were full-time (67%). A similar split in terms of working pattern was also seen for the public sector.

  • The public sector saw an increase of 1,210 jobs (0.6%) over the year to September 2021. The growth in the public sector was driven by an increase of 744 (0.5%) jobs held by females.

  • The private sector saw an increase of 12,363 jobs (2.2%) over the year to September 2021. The growth in the private sector was driven by an increase in male full-time jobs (9,914 or 4.0%), and female full-time jobs (6,673 or 5.4%).


Figure 7: Public sector jobs accounted for just over a quarter (27%) of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland.

Proportion of employee jobs by Public/Private Sector, 2021

Figure 8: The majority of public sector jobs were held by females (68%), while the majority of private sector jobs were held by males (55%).

Composition of employee jobs by Gender and Working Pattern in Public/Private Sector, 2021

Figure 9: Decline in part-time jobs held by males and females in private sector.

Percentage change in employee jobs by Gender and Working Pattern for Public/Private Sector, 2020 to 2021

7. Quality and Methodology


Business surveys have been experiencing a decline in response rates in recent years, caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in lower levels of precision when estimating employee job counts than in previous years.

The effective response rate for BRES 2021 was 72%.

Further detail on the quality of these data, and the methodology used to produce them, can be found in the Quality and Methodology Report.


8. Background Notes


This bulletin summarises findings from the Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) 2021. A set of associated tables have been provided and are available on the NISRA website.

The Northern Ireland BRES sample for 2021 was sufficiently large to provide disaggregation of employee job figures to 5-digit SIC 2007, district council area level, parliamentary constituency area and ward.

Note that the data and analysis presented in this report include agriculture employee job figures taken from the Agriculture Census in Northern Ireland 2021, published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The agriculture job counts included in this report are Farm labour: Other workers.

This is in line with the NI Quarterly Employment Survey output.

However as, the agriculture data is not available at all geographical and industry levels that BRES data can be disaggregated to, BRES tables do not include agriculture counts.


9. User Feedback and User Event


In response to user feedback, information on total employment has been included in this year’s publication.

We strive to ensure our outputs continue to meet user needs and would like to hear your feedback. Are there additional or alternative tables or charts you wish to see included? If so, please contact:

The Labour Market Statistics Newsletter, June 2022 is available on the NISRA website. The next Labour Market Statistics User Group will take place on 29th September 2022. If you wish to receive further details of this user engagement event then please contact: