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1. Key points

Trends in business births

There were 6,375 business births in Northern Ireland over the year to December 2020, which is a decrease of 3.8% on the previous year. This amounts to a birth rate (proportion of active businesses) of 9.9%.
The business birth rate in Northern Ireland decreased by 0.5 percentage points (pps) over the year and by 1.4 pps from the series high in 2017.

Trends in business deaths

There were 4,900 business deaths during the year to December 2020, which is a decrease of 9.0% on the previous year. This amounts to a death rate of 7.6%.
The business death rate in Northern Ireland decreased by 0.8 pps over the year and by 1.5 pps from the series high in 2012. This was the largest annual decrease observed in business death rates since 2014 and follows 2019, which saw the largest annual increase since 2009.

Figure 1: Birth and death rates have decreased over the year for businesses registered in Northern Ireland

Birth and death rate for businesses registered in Northern Ireland, 2005 to 2020

Geography

The number of business births was greater than the number of business deaths for all district council areas across Northern Ireland in 2020. Belfast had the highest number of births and deaths (1,275 births and 965 deaths), while Mid and East Antrim had the lowest number of births and deaths (330 births and 275 deaths).
Birth rates decreased for all district councils in Northern Ireland except for three areas. Causeway Coast and Glens, and Newry, Mourne and Down saw small increases over the year, while Antrim and Newtownabbey saw an increase of 2.9 pps.
Death rates decreased across all district council areas over the year to December 2020, with the exception of Newry, Mourne and Down, which saw an increase of 0.8 pps (90 deaths). Mid Ulster continued to have the lowest death rate (6.1%) across the region for the sixth consecutive year.

Figure 2: The number of births was greater than the number of deaths for all district council areas across Northern Ireland in 2020

Number of births and deaths for businesses registered in Northern Ireland by District Council Area, 2020

Industry

Business births increased over the year in Retail; Wholesale; Transport and storage; Business administration and support services; and in the Finance and insurance industry. Business births decreased, or remained unchanged, for all other industries.
Retail saw an increase in births of 47.2% over the year to December 2020. There were 780 business births recorded for Retail in 2020, which is the highest number of births for the sector since the series by industry began in 2009.
Business births in Transport and storage increased by 13.6%. The growth in Transport and storage was replicated across all UK regions, where there has been a significant rise in small or single person courier companies to meet the demand for home delivery services during the COVID-19 pandemic (Business Demography, UK: 2020).
The number of business births in the Construction industry has fallen every year since 2017. The number of business births in Construction in 2020 (960) is almost a third lower (32.6%) than the 2017 value (1,425).
Accommodation and food services; and the Art, entertainment and recreation industries saw the business birth rate decrease by 3 pps from 2019 to 2020.
Business death rates remain highest for Business administration and support services; Retail; and Transport and storage industries.
The number of deaths in the Construction industry fell by 215 (21.8%) from 985 in 2019 to 770 in 2020. The death rate for the Construction industry was 6.5% in 2020, 5 pps below the series high of 11.5% in 2012.

Figure 3: Business birth and death rates are highest for Business administration and support; Transport and storage; and Retail industries.

Birth and death rates for businesses registered in Northern Ireland by Industry, 2020

2. UK Comparison

Trends in UK business births and deaths

Business birth rates have fallen for all four UK regions over the year to 2020, continuing a general decline since 2016. Birth rates in England and Scotland have fallen by almost 3 pps since 2016, while the decline in Wales and Northern Ireland is of the order of 1 pp.
Birth rates in Northern Ireland have historically been lower than the other three UK regions. However, declines in England and Scotland are reducing the disparity between the regions.
Business death rates have fallen slightly (less than 1 pp) for all four UK regions, while Northern Ireland business death rates remain lower than England, Scotland and Wales.

Figure 4: Business birth rates have fallen for all four UK regions over the year to 2020.

Business birth rates by UK region, 2009 to 2020

Figure 5: Business death rates have fallen by less than 1 percentage point for all four UK regions over the year to 2020.

Business death rates by UK region, 2009 to 2020

3. High Growth Businesses

High growth (for the purposes of this publication) measures businesses, who had at least 10 employees in 2017, that had an average growth in employment of greater than 20% per year between 2017 and 2020.

There were 285 high growth businesses in Northern Ireland in 2020. This is an increase of 20 businesses (7.5%) on the previous year and a decrease of 55 businesses (16.2%) on the 5-year high seen in 2016 (340 businesses).
Northern Ireland is the only UK region to have seen an increase in the number of high growth businesses in 2020. The number of high growth businesses in Scotland fell by 7.5% over the year and by 4.1% and 4.3% in England and Wales, respectively.
The high growth rate (high growth businesses as a proportion of all businesses with 10 or more employees) for Northern Ireland (3.8%) remained lower than that for England (4.4%) and Wales (4.1%) but was higher than Scotland (3.7%). The Northern Ireland business profile is dominated by small businesses with less than 10 employees, which account for 89% of all businesses operating in Northern Ireland.

4. Employer Demography

Employer demography is an alternative measure of business demography based on businesses with at least one employee.

There were 6,095 employer business births in Northern Ireland in 2020. This is a decrease of 225 (3.6%) on the previous year and a decrease of 565 (8.5%) on the 5-year high seen in 2016 (6,660 businesses).
The number of employer business births has fallen across all four UK regions. The number of employer business births in Scotland fell by 21.1% over the year, 10.3% in England and 9.2% in Wales.
The employer business death rate for each of the four UK regions also fell during 2020. The employer business death rate in Northern Ireland in 2020 (7.6%) remained lower than that in England (10.4%), Scotland (10.2%) and Wales (9.5%).

5. Background Notes

Data Sources
The figures in these tables are produced using information from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces business demography data for the UK. Northern Ireland business demography statistics are compiled by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) from data held on the IDBR.

Coverage
The data used for this publication relate to businesses registered in Northern Ireland and exclude public sector organisations and the agricultural sector. Composite and managed services companies have also been excluded as the address does not represent the location of the activities of the business. All other businesses which are VAT registered and/or operating a PAYE scheme are included.

Definitions

Business
In these data, the enterprise definition of a business is used: an enterprise is defined as the smallest number of legal units (based on VAT and PAYE records) which has a certain degree of autonomy in decision making. Each enterprise is assigned to a geographical location within the UK based on its registered (or main) address. This means that the Northern Ireland figures will not include businesses operating in Northern Ireland which have their registered (or main) address elsewhere in the UK.

NISRA does, however, publish counts of businesses operating in Northern Ireland in the annual Facts and Figures from the IDBR. This publication includes all businesses operating in Northern Ireland, including those in the agriculture sector and those headquartered elsewhere but operating from a site in Northern Ireland.

Active
The starting point for demography is the concept of a population of active businesses in a reference year (t). These are defined as businesses that were registered on the IDBR by having a VAT and/or PAYE at any time during the reference year. Births and deaths are then identified by comparing active populations for different years. Birth and death rates are calculated by dividing the births and deaths by the active population for the same year. The ONS publishes active population figures for the UK on the NOMIS website.

Births
A birth is identified as a business that was on the IDBR in year t, but was not on the IDBR in year t-1 or t-2. Births are identified by making comparison of annual active population files and identifying those present in the latest file, but not the two previous ones.

Deaths
A death is defined as a business that was on the active file in year t, but was no longer present in the active file in t+1 and t+2. In order to provide an early estimate of deaths, an adjustment has been made to the latest two years deaths to allow for reactivations. The figures for these years are provisional and subject to revision.

Survival
A business is deemed to have survived if having been a birth in year t or having survived to year t; it is active in terms of employment and/or turnover in any part of t+1.

High Growth
High growth (for the purposes of this publication) measures businesses, who had at least 10 employees in 2017, that had an average growth in employment of greater than 20% per year between 2017 and 2020. The high growth rates are calculated by showing these businesses as a share of the 2020 active businesses with 10 or more employees. Businesses born in 2017 and agriculture businesses are not included.

The ONS has been providing high growth business data for UK regions since 2014. This report includes high growth figures for Northern Ireland at district council area and industry level. The Northern Ireland data can be found on the NISRA website and they are comparable to the UK data published on the ONS website.

The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) publishes an extensive annual report on High Growth Firms using data from the IDBR. There are definitional differences in the data presented in the DfE report and that presented here and, as such, they are not directly comparable. The data in the DfE report include agriculture and all businesses operating in Northern Ireland, while the data presented in this report exclude agriculture and covers only those businesses registered in Northern Ireland. The data in this report are comparable with the ONS data for the four UK regions.

Employer Demography
Employer demography is an alternative measure of business demography based on businesses with at least one employee. Employer business births include new businesses with at least one employee as well as existing non-employer businesses that have become employer businesses. Deaths are businesses that died with at least one employee, as well as businesses that cease to employ staff. It is important to note that these counts include single employee companies where the employee is also the owner-director.

The ONS has been providing employer demography figures for the UK since 2014. It was set up to enable the collection of internationally comparable statistics. This report includes employer demography data for Northern Ireland at district council area and industry level. The Northern Ireland data can be found on the NISRA website.

6. Quality and Methodology

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

7. Related Links

The Facts and Figures from the IDBR report provides a profile of Northern Ireland businesses by industry, size, legal status, location and foreign-ownership.
The ONS Business Demography publication can be accessed on the ONS website.
The ONS Business demography, quarterly experimental statistics for the UK, can be accessed on the ONS website.

National Statistics status means that official 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 designated as National Statistics in 2012 following a full assessment against the Code of Practice.

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:

Northern Ireland business activity, size, location and ownership data are now published separately from the Northern Ireland Business Demography report to improve timeliness; and improved accessibility by publishing the report and interactive charts in HTML and PDF, and accompanying data tables in Excel and ODS formats.