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: 26 September 2023


TABLES AND CHARTS

1. Key Points


  • The total employment in Northern Ireland in September 2022 was 836,873. The largest proportion of working owners was in Construction (6,161 or 14% of total Construction employment).

  • The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland in September 2022 was 805,848, an increase of 13,222 (1.7%) since September 2021.

  • The increase in employee jobs was driven mainly by growth in the Service industry (11,193 jobs), which was responsible for 85% of the total increase.

  • Construction jobs continued to grow, with an increase of 2.2% (829 jobs) recorded over the year to September 2022. Growth was higher than in the previous year (0.8%).

  • Manufacturing jobs increased by 1,323 jobs (1.5%) over the year to September 2022. Growth remained the same as the previous year (1.5%).

  • All district council areas in Northern Ireland saw an increase in employee jobs, except for Mid and East Antrim, which saw a small, insignificant decline of 20 jobs. Lisburn and Castlereagh experienced the largest percentage increase, with 2,018 (3.3%) additional jobs .


2. Employment


Northern Ireland employment estimates are available for 2022 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 2022 was 836,873.

  • The largest proportion of working owners was in Construction (6,161 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, 2022
Headline Industry Employment
Construction 44,146
Manufacturing 90,287
Other 25,104
Services 677,336
Total 836,873

3. Gender and Working Pattern


  • The number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland was 805,848 at September 2022. This figure, and subsequent data in this report, includes agriculture employee job counts taken from the Agriculture Census in Northern Ireland, 2022.

  • Employee jobs were evenly split by gender, with just over half of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland occupied by females (51%).

  • Two-thirds (66%) of employee jobs were full-time.

  • The majority (80%) 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 2021.

  • Full-time jobs occupied by males saw a small decline over the year (708 or 0.2%), whereas female full-time jobs increased over the year (3,665 or 1.7%). Part-time jobs occupied by males increased over the year (3,419 or 4.5%), as did part-time jobs occupied by females (6,845 or 3.6%).


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, 2022

Figure 2: Part-time jobs occupied by both males and females increased significantly over the year, with only full-time jobs occupied by males showing a small decline.

Percentage change in employee jobs by Gender and Working Pattern, 2021 to 2022

4. Industry


  • Employee jobs in September 2022 were the highest reported in this series across all four headline industries.

  • Services dominated employee jobs in Northern Ireland, accounting for 81% (655,661) of the overall total. The second largest industry was Manufacturing with 88,026 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 2021.

  • Employee jobs increased in Services (11,193 or 1.7%), Manufacturing (1,323 or 1.5%) and Construction (829 or 2.2%) over the year, while jobs in the Other industry saw a small decline (123 or 0.5%).


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

Percentage of employee jobs by Headline Industry, 2022

Figure 4: The number of employee jobs increased in three of the headline industries, with Other seeing a decline over the year, to September 2022.

Percentage change in employee jobs by Headline Industry, 2021 and 2022


  • Over half (52%) of Service industry jobs are in Human health and social work, Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles and, Education.

  • There were declines in three of the Service industries over the year, most notably in Financial and insurance activities (3.0% or 604), Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles (2.2% or 2,881) and Administrative and support service activities (2.1% or 1,142).

  • Employee jobs in Professional, scientific and technical activities grew by 8.9% (3,403) over the year, with the Arts, entertainment and recreation industry also experiencing strong growth in employee jobs (7.5% or 1,101).

  • Transport and storage employee jobs grew strongly over the year (6.3% or 1,790) following a decline of 2.7% the previous year.


Figure 5: Over half of Service industry jobs are in Human health and social work, Wholesale and retail trade, and Education. Growth in Services was driven by increases in Professional, scientific and technical activities and Education.

Percentage change in employee jobs for Service Industries, 2021 to 2022


  • Employee jobs in the Other headline industry accounted for 3.0% (24,175) of all jobs in Northern Ireland. These jobs are predominately in Agriculture, forestry and fishing (51% or 12,413); and Water, sewage, waste management and remediation (32% or 7,684).

  • Employee jobs in Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply had the highest percentage growth (9.4% or 181), with jobs in Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities increasing over the year (2.6% or 192), while those in Agriculture, forestry and fishing declined (3.5% or 444).

5. District Council Area


  • Almost half (48%) of all employee jobs in Northern Ireland were located 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 Mid and East Antrim, which saw a very small, insignificant decline (20 jobs) over the year.

  • The largest increase in employee jobs was in Belfast (3,623 or 1.6%), while Lisburn and Castlereagh saw the second largest increase in employee jobs and the largest percentage growth (2,018 or 3.3%) 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, 2022


The Service industry dominates the employee jobs profile in Northern Ireland. Therefore, changes to the number of employee jobs at district council area level will be dominated by changes within Services. It is important to note when considering changes for a given geography and industry that businesses can move from one district council area to another. This has the potential to cause a significant loss in one area and a corresponding gain in another. When this occurs, the jobs are not lost or created, rather the jobs have moved. Businesses can also make small changes to their business description which results in employee jobs moving from one industry to another. These jobs are lost to one industry and gained in the other.


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

Change in the number of employee jobs by District Council Area at Headline Industry, 2021 to 2022





6. Public/Private Sector


  • The public/private sector jobs profile in Northern Ireland remains unchanged from 2021 with almost three-quarters (73%) of jobs in the private sector. In the UK, private sector jobs accounted for 82% of the total in March 2023 (Public sector employment, UK: September 2022, ONS).

  • The majority of public sector jobs in 2022 were held by females (68%), while the majority of private sector jobs were held by males (55%).

  • Two-thirds of private sector jobs were full-time (66%). A similar split in terms of working pattern was also seen for the public sector (67%).

  • The public sector saw an increase of 4,425 jobs (2.1%) over the year to September 2022. The growth in the public sector was driven by an increase of 3,551 (2.4%) jobs held by females.

  • The private sector saw an increase of 8,797 jobs (1.5%) over the year to September 2022. The growth in the private sector was driven by an increase in female part-time jobs (6,735 or 5.3%) and male part-time jobs (3,475 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, 2022

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, 2022

Figure 9: There was a decline in male full-time jobs in private sector and male part-time jobs in the public sector.

Percentage change in employee jobs by Gender and Working Pattern for Public/Private Sector, 2021 to 2022

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 2022 was 74%.

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) 2022. A set of associated tables have been provided and are available on the NISRA website.

The Northern Ireland BRES sample for 2022 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 2022, 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


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, August 2023 is available on the NISRA website. The next Labour Market Statistics User Group will take place on 24th October 2023. If you wish to receive further details of this user engagement event, then please contact: