Northern Ireland Economic Trade Statistics 2021
Northern Ireland Economic Trade Statistics 2021
Date Published: 14 December 2022
Geographical Area: Northern Ireland
Theme: Economy
Frequency:
Annual
Key Points
The latest estimates of local businesses’ trade with markets inside and outside Northern Ireland for 2021 are presented within this release. All values are in current prices and relate to the sales and purchases of both goods and services.
In 2021, total sales by companies in Northern Ireland (NI) were estimated to be worth £77.1 billion.
Sales within NI amounted to £52.1 billion, accounting for 67.6% of total sales.
The remainder of sales were fairly evenly split between those to GB (£12.8 billion) and sales to markets outside the UK (i.e., exports) of £12.2 billion, accounting for 16.6% and 15.8% of total sales respectively in 2021.
Total sales of goods were estimated to be worth £51.3 billion in 2021, an increase of 13.8% (£6.2 billion) over the year. Total goods represented 66.6% of total sales in 2021.
Sales of services represented 33.4% of total sales in 2021 and were estimated to be worth £25.8 billion. Sales of services increased by 13.3% over the year (£3.0 billion).
Exports of goods were estimated to be worth £9.2 billion in 2021, an increase of 13.7% (£1.1 billion). Exports of goods represented 75.8% of all exports sales.
Exports of services represented 24.2% of all export sales in 2021 and were estimated to be worth £3.0 billion. Exports of services increased by 23.6% (£0.6 billion) over the year.
Total purchases by NI businesses were estimated to be £48.7 billion in 2021, with the purchase of goods accounting for 79.6% of this amount (£38.8 billion). Purchases of goods increased by 13.6% (£4.6 billion) over the year.
The purchases of services represented 20.4% of total purchases in 2021 and were estimated to be worth £9.9 billion and remained static over the year.
In terms of the balance of trade, NI businesses exported more goods and services (£12.2 billion) than it imported (£7.7 billion), resulting in a trade surplus of £4.5 billion. The reverse was the case with our trade with GB, with purchases exceeding sales (£14.4 billion and £12.8 billion respectively), resulting in a trade deficit of £1.7 billion.
National Statistics status means 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 designated as National Statistics in March 2022 following a full assessment of the Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics against the Code of Practice for statistics.
Since the assessment by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and seek to continue with the development and improvement of the BESES series.
Users should refer to the Northern Ireland Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics Development Plan for further information on recent developments.
Users should be aware that whilst we have changed the name of this publication to better reflect the content, the statistics are those that were assessed by the UKSA. Further information on the change of name is provided overleaf.
1 Introduction and Context
Renaming of survey and new publication structure and
format
Following two events that sought user views on the BESES (a user consultation held in Summer 2021; and the recently concluded assessment of the Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation, the independent regulatory arm of the UKSA), the desire for more timely data was a theme that emerged strongly from both. NISRA subsequently hosted a user group meeting with users on the 20th January 2022 where we outlined proposals to bring forward the annual imports publication (typically released in May/June each year) to early April 2022, combining it with our annual exports goods and services publication. This plan was well received, and the outworking of that proposal was the single publication titled “Northern Ireland Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics: Trade in Goods and Services Results” which brought imports and exports of goods and services data together into one publication and, importantly, facilitated the production of balance of trade analysis (as measured by BESES coverage) for the first time.
As a result of further work in developing a Reproducible Analytical Pipeline (RAP) to better automate our statistical processes, we have now been able to combine the destinations-level results (typically published in December each year) with the Trade in Goods and Services Results publication (published the following April) into a single publication, effectively cutting six months off the previous publication timeline for the release of all data for the survey year.
Given that we will be:
* publishing both imports and exports
statistics together, and
* publishing more detailed imports-level
data in the near future,
the name of the data series and publication has been changed to better represent the breadth of trade data published. Therefore, the Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics (BESES) series will now be called the Northern Ireland Economic Trade Statistics (NIETS).
Today’s publication marks the first time that the publication is released in HTML format only, produced using RAP guidelines. The content and format of the report and tables have changed to make them more user friendly and interactive, enhancing accessibility, and increasing the level of automation in their production.
In addition and reflecting the considerable volume of trade data being disseminated via this release, the NIETS data will now be available via the new NISRA data portal, which has been designed to enhance the user experience (as described below) and remove the need for Excel tables.
The Data Portal will give users the flexibility to slice and dice datasets, run meta-data searches, filter results, plot interactive charts, visualise data over interactive maps, share results and automate processes by reading data via API queries. The outputs follow the Open Data recommendations by providing access to multiple data formats (CSV, JSON-stat, PX, and XLSX).
We welcome feedback from users on this new development (see Contact Information).
Status of figures in current bulletin
The most recent figures relate to survey year 2021. These figures are provisional and are subject to revision in the next reporting period.
It is normal practice to revise the data from the previous year based on ongoing data validation and clarification of responses from individual businesses. In line with this, previously published provisional NIETS estimates for 2020 have been revised throughout this publication.
Trade values are reported in £ billion unless otherwise specified.
Percentages are reported to one decimal place.
Figures may not sum due to rounding.
All values are in current prices.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the economy during 2020, due to (i) lockdown measures being introduced to mitigate its spread and (ii) prolonged periods of business closures. This should be borne in mind when considering the change in trade estimates between 2020 and 2021. When the figures are viewed in the broader picture of trends observed over the past number of years, the 2021 figures broadly align with what might reasonably have been expected were it not for the impact of the pandemic in 2020.
Definitions used in this publication
Turnover (also referred to as total sales) is defined as total sales and work done. This is calculated by adding the value of sales of goods produced, goods purchased and resold without further processing, work done and industrial and non-industrial services rendered.
External Sales are comprised of those sales made outside Northern Ireland, that is, sales to Great Britain, Ireland, the Rest of the European Union and the Rest of the World.
Exports are defined as all sales outside the United Kingdom.
Total purchases are defined as the sum of all purchases from Northern Ireland (NI), Great Britain (GB), Ireland (IE), the Rest of the European Union (REU) and the Rest of the World (ROW). Total purchases include all non-deductible VAT. In the case of imports the cost includes import and excise duties.
Imports consist of all purchases made from outside the United Kingdom.
The Rest of the EU (REU) is composed of the following countries: Germany; France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Italy; Denmark; Portugal; Spain; Greece; Austria; Sweden; Finland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Slovenia (Croatia joined the EU in July 2013 and is included in the 2014 reporting period).
The Rest of the World (ROW) refers to all other destinations outside the EU, GB and NI.
Goods refers to specific, tangible products.
Services refers to intangible products.
Broad Economy: The information needed to produce the NI Economic Trade Statistics (NIETS) is collected via the NI Annual Business Inquiry (NIABI). Like the NIABI, the NIETS results are classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (SIC) system. The SIC 2007 sections covered by the NIABI defines the term ‘Broad Economy’ and are as follows:
A. Agriculture (support activities), forestry and fishing
B.
Mining and quarrying
C. Manufacturing
D. Electricity, gas,
steam and air conditioning supply
E. Water supply, sewerage, waste
management and remediation activities
F. Construction
G.
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles
(Distribution industries)
H. Transport and storage
I.
Accommodation and food service activities
J. Information and
communication
L. Real estate activities
M. Professional,
scientific and technical activities
N. Administrative and support
service activities
P. Education (excludes local authority and
central government bodies)
Q. Human health and social work
activities (excludes local authority and central government, and medical
and dental practice activities (group 86.2))
R. Arts, entertainment
and recreation
S. Other service activities
Users should refer to the document “Background information - Northern Ireland Economic Trade Statistics” for further detail on survey coverage and definitions.
Trade balance is defined as the difference between the value of exports and the value of imports, or:
\[\text{trade balance=value of exports-value of imports}\]
Reference Tables
To support this release, further sectoral and geographic data is available via the new NISRA data portal.
For Further Information
Further information on the NIETS can be accessed on the NISRA website.
2 Summary and Commentary - Exports
2.1 Sales and Exports Performance
Total sales by companies in Northern Ireland (NI) were estimated to be worth £77.1 billion in 2021. This represents an increase of 13.6% (£9.2 billion) over the year and compares to a previous annual decrease of 4.9% in 2020.
In 2021, 32.4% of total sales were made to customers outside NI (external sales). This equated to £24.9 billion, representing an increase of 14.5% (£3.2 billion) over the year.
Sales outside the UK (exports) were estimated to be worth £12.2 billion in 2021. This represented an increase of 16.0% over the year, and follows a decrease in the previous period (2019 – 2020) of 10.7%.
Figure 1 shows the values of total sales, and their broad destinations over the 10 year period (2011 to 2021). The downturn in total sales in 2020 and the concomitant effect on sales to each broad destination can be seen clearly. The vast majority of businesses reported that the decrease in total sales in 2020 was as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on business operations. Similarly, the changes in trade over the year 2020 to 2021 were explained by a recovery from the economic effects of the pandemic. Total sales, sales within NI and sales to IE are at their highest levels on survey record.
Figure 1: Sales by broad destination, 2011 – 2021 (£ billions)
2.2 Annual Changes in Sales over Time
Figure 2 provides information on annual percentage changes in total sales to selected destinations over the entire survey history (from survey year 2011).
The downturn in total sales in 2020 can be seen clearly, affecting sales to every destination, with the exception of sales to GB.
Prior to 2020, and with the exception of the period 2016-17, total sales have consistently grown annually, although at varying rates. In 2016-17, total sales experienced negative growth for the first time in the time series - this was mainly driven by the first recorded decrease in GB sales. GB sales continued to experience negative growth in 2017-18, albeit at a reduced rate compared to 2016-17, but returned to positive growth over 2018-19 and GB was the only destination with sales growth in 2019-20.
Prior to 2020, NI sales had never fallen annually. The fall in exports in 2019-20 breaks the pattern of consistent growth in more recent years (from 2015-16 onwards). Exports to IE mirror this broad pattern, while the growth rates for REU and ROW are more erratic.
Sales to every destination increased over the year 2020 to 2021 and were explained by a recovery from the economic effects of the pandemic. Some of these increases were the largest on survey record. Total sales, sales within NI and sales to IE are at their highest levels on survey record.
Figure 2: Annual Rate of Growth of Sales to Broad Destinations, 2011 – 2021
2.3 Analysis by Destination
Figure 3 below provides information on the value of total sales by destination in 2021.
Over the last year (i.e. between 2020 and 2021), total sales increased by 13.6% (£9.2 billion) to £77.1 billion. This was largely driven by increasing sales within NI (up 13.2% or £6.1 billion), in addition to increasing exports (up 16.0% or £1.7 billion) and increasing GB sales (up 13.1% or £1.5 billion).
Exports to IE (£5.2 billion) have increased by 23.0% (£1.0 billion). This follows a decrease of 7.3% between 2019 and 2020.
GB remained the most significant single market for external sales from Northern Ireland businesses, accounting for 16.6% of total sales, totalling £12.8 billion in 2021.
Sales to outside the UK (exports) are estimated to be worth £12.2 billion in 2021 and accounted for 15.8% of total sales. Exports to IE accounted for 6.7% of total sales and just over two fifths (42.5%) of sales outside the UK. IE remains our single largest export market.
Over the course of 2021 exports to the REU increased by 16.8% (£0.4 billion) to £2.6 billion. Exports to the REU accounted for 3.4% of total sales and over a fifth of exports (21.4%).
Exports to the ROW increased by £0.3 billion (8.3%) over the year, to £4.4 billion. ROW sales accounted for 5.7% of total sales, and 36.1% of all exports.
External sales to markets outside NI are comprised of sales to GB plus the value of exports combined. These increased by £3.2 billion (14.5%) to £24.9 billion, and accounted for almost one third of total sales in 2021 (32.4%).
Figure 3: Total Sales by Destination, 2021 (£ billion)*
* Figures may not sum due to rounding
Figure 4 below provides information on the value of exports to the top 25 individual REU and ROW destinations in 2021 (countries with disclosive data are not shown). Exports to the USA (£1,775 million) dominates trade among REU and ROW countries and, alone, are worth a similar amount to the combined sales (£1,676m) of the next three largest markets (Netherlands (£673 million), Germany (£531 million) and Canada £473 million)).
Figure 4: Sales to individual REU and ROW countries, 2021 (£ millions)
2.4 Analysis by Industry Section
Figure 5 below provides a breakdown of exports by industry section. In 2021, the largest proportion of export sales was from the Manufacturing sector (Section C) which accounted for 55.3% (£6.7 billion) of all exports sales (£12.2 billion). Manufacturing exports increased by 9.4% over the year, and have increased by 21.5% between 2011 and 2021.
The next largest exporter was Wholesale and Retail Trade (Section G) with 20.5% (£2.5 billion) of all exports sales. Exports in this section increased by 29.9% over the year. This was followed by Information and Communication (Section J) which accounted for 7.2% of export sales (£0.9 billion) and Professional, scientific and technical activities (Section M) which accounted for 5.1% (£0.6 billion) of export sales.
Figure 5: Export Sales by Industry Section, 2021 (£ millions)*
* Others refers to the following industry sectors: (A) Agriculture, Forestry And Fishing; (B) Mining And Quarrying; (D) Electricity, Gas, Steam And Air Conditioning Supply; (E) Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management And Remediation Activities; (I) Accommodation And Food Service Activities; (L) Real Estate Activities; (P) Education (excludes local authority and central government bodies); (Q) Human health and social work activities (excludes local authority and central government, and medical and dental practice activities (group 86.2)); (R) Arts, entertainment and recreation; (S) Other service activities.
2.5 Sale of Goods and Services over Time
Figure 6 below shows a time-series for the sales of goods and series to each broad destination. Some of the key trends are drawn out below.
Figure 6: Sales and exports split by goods and services: 2011 – 2021 (£ billions)
NI Sales
NI sales by Northern Ireland businesses were estimated to be worth £52.1 billion in 2021. This comprised sales of goods estimated to be worth £34.3 billion, and sales of services estimated to be worth £17.9 billion.
Over the period 2011 – 2019, NI sales increased with both the sales of goods and sales of services increasing steadily, driving the increasing levels of total sales. The fall in total sales in 2020 was mostly driven by falling sales in goods (6.7% compared to a decrease of 3.2% for services) while the recovery in 2021 was driven by increases in sales of both goods and services (14.0% and 11.6% respectively).
GB Sales
GB sales were estimated to be worth £12.8 billion in 2021 and made up 16.6% of total sales (£77.1 billion). Of this, 61.1% (£7.8 billion) related to the sale of goods and 38.9% (£5.0 billion) to the sale of services.
Over the period 2011 – 2019, sales of goods to GB peaked in 2016, falling in the next two years before recovering slightly in 2019. Sales of services have generally been increasing each year, partly offsetting the losses in sales of goods in 2017 and 2018. The increase in GB sales in 2020 was driven by increasing sales in services (9.2% compared to 1.0% growth in sales of goods), while increases in sales of both goods and services have driven the increase in GB sales in 2021 (12.7% and 13.9% respectively).
Exports
Total exports were estimated to be worth £12.2 billion in 2021. This comprised exports of goods estimated to be worth £9.2 billion and exports of services estimated to be worth £3.0 billion.
Total exports of goods represented 75.8% of all exports in 2021 and represents an increase of 13.7% (£1.1 billion) over the year and compares to a decrease of 12.1% in 2020.
Exports of services represented 24.2% of total export sales in 2021 and increased by 23.6% (£0.6 billion) over the year compared to a decrease of 5.3% (£0.1 billion) the previous year.
Over the period 2011 – 2019, the trend in total exports has been variable, peaking at just under £12 billion in 2018 and 2019 driven by an increase in the export of goods. The fall in total exports in 2020 was mostly driven by falling exports of goods while the recovery in 2021 was driven by increases in the export of both goods and services.
2.6 Analysis by Destination
Figure 7 shows the proportion of broad destination sales accounted for by goods and services. Sales of goods account for the largest proportion of sales within each broad destination in 2021. Goods accounted for 65.7% of total Northern Ireland sales, compared to 61.1% of GB sales, 74.7% of Ireland sales, 79.2% of Rest of Europe sales and 74.9% of all Rest of World sales. Sales of goods account for 75.8% of all export sales and 68.3% of all external sales.
For sales of services it is apparent that proximity to Northern Ireland is an influencing factor, with services accounting for 33.3% of total sales in Northern Ireland, 38.9% of all Great Britain sales and 24.2% of all exports.
Figure 7: Goods and Services, as a proportion of sales, to each destination, 2021
3 Summary and Commentary - Imports
3.1 Purchases and Imports Performance
Table 1 and Figure 8 below provide information the origin of the purchases of goods and services and how they contribute to the overall purchases value of £48.7 billion in 2021.
Table 1: Purchases and Imports from Trade Partners Split by Goods and Services: 2021 (£ millions)*
| Trade Partner | Total | Goods | Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Purchases | 48,696 | 38,756 | 9,940 |
| NI Purchases | 26,522 | 19,620 | 6,902 |
| GB Purchases | 14,450 | 12,349 | 2,100 |
| IE Imports | 3,078 | 2,764 | 313 |
| REU Imports | 2,536 | 2,202 | 334 |
| ROW Imports | 2,111 | 1,821 | 290 |
| Total Imports | 7,724 | 6,787 | 938 |
* Figures may not sum due to rounding
Total purchases by companies in NI (£48.7 billion) in 2021 comprised purchases of goods estimated to be worth £38.8 billion and purchases of services estimated to be worth £9.9 billion.
Total purchases of goods (£38.8 billion) equates to 79.6% of total purchases and increased by 13.6% (£4.6 billion) over the year in 2021. This compares to a previous annual decrease of 7.6% in 2020.
Total purchases of services (£9.9 billion) represents 20.4% of total purchases but remained static over the year, compared to an increase of 2.4% the previous year.
The largest market for purchases of both goods and services is NI, which accounted for 54.5% (£26.5 billion) of all purchases. The next largest market is GB which represents 29.7% (£14.4 billion) of all purchases in 2021.
Purchases of goods within NI (£19.6 billion) represents 50.6% of all purchases of goods with the next largest market being GB representing 31.9% (£12.3 billion) of all goods purchased. Similarly for services, NI is the largest market followed by GB representing 69.4% (£6.9 billion) and 21.1% (£2.1 billion) of total purchases of services respectively.
Imports were estimated to be worth £7.7 billion in 2021, an increase of 12.9% (£0.9 billion) over the year. Of which, imports of goods were estimated to be worth £6.8 billion in 2021 (87.9% of all imports). Imports of services were estimated to be worth £0.9 billion representing 12.1% of total imports in 2021.
Imports from Ireland, the Rest of the EU and the Rest of the World had a combined worth of £7.7 billion in 2021. When combined with purchases from GB (£14.4 billion) and purchases within NI (£26.5 billion), this equates to total purchases by companies in NI estimated to be worth £48.7 billion in 2021.
Figure 8: Purchases and Imports of Goods and Services by Trade Partner, 2021 (£ billion)*
* Figures may not sum due to rounding
3.2 Annual Changes in Purchases over Time
Figure 9 below shows the value of purchases from each trade partner over the period 2011 to 2021. As with the sales data, the downturn in trade in 2020 can be seen clearly, as can the subsequent recovery in 2021. Purchases from NI (£26.5 billion), GB (£14.4 billion) and IE (£3.1 billion) are at their highest levels on survey record.
Figure 9: Purchases by trade partner, 2011 – 2021 (£ billions)*
* Data for NI and GB purchases are only available from survey year 2013 onwards
Figure 10 below further breaks down the data from Figure 9 into purchases of goods and services from each trade partner. The vast majority of purchases are purchases of goods, no matter the trade partner. Total purchases of goods represented 79.6% of total purchases in 2021 and were estimated to be worth £38.8 billion.
Larger amounts of services tend to be bought from partners closer to NI compared to more distant partners, with the largest value of services actually bought from within NI.
Figure 10: Purchases and Imports split by goods and services: 2011 – 2021 (£ billions)*
* Data for NI and GB purchases are only available from survey year 2013 onwards
3.3 Analysis by industry section
Figure 11 below provides a breakdown of imports by industry section. Imports are dominated by Wholesale and Retail Trade (section G) and the Manufacturing sector (section C), comprising 49.0% and 37.3% of all imports respectively and, together, accounting for 86.3% (£6.7 billion) of all imports. The remaining 13.7% (£1.1 billion) of imports is spread in small amounts across the other industry sectors.
Figure 11: Imports by Industry Section, 2021 (£ millions)*
* Others refers to the following industry sectors: (A) Agriculture, Forestry And Fishing; (B) Mining And Quarrying; (D) Electricity, Gas, Steam And Air Conditioning Supply; (E) Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management And Remediation Activities; (I) Accommodation And Food Service Activities; (L) Real Estate Activities; (P) Education (excludes local authority and central government bodies); (Q) Human health and social work activities (excludes local authority and central government, and medical and dental practice activities (group 86.2)); (R) Arts, entertainment and recreation; (S) Other service activities.
4 Summary and Commentary - Trade Balance
Trade balance is defined as the difference between the value of exports and the value of imports and, in this case, is the NI trade balance as measured by the NIETS. Users are reminded that the NIETS does not capture trade in the public sector; the financial and insurance sectors; and the vast majority of agriculture (users should refer to the notes on coverage in the NIETS Background Information for more detail). Users should also bear in mind the following from the Eurostat guidance:
“If exports exceed imports then the country has a trade surplus and the trade balance is said to be positive. If imports exceed exports, the country or area has a trade deficit and its trade balance is said to be negative. However, the words ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ have only a numerical meaning and do not necessarily reflect whether the economy of a country or area is performing well or not.”
4.1 Trade Balance Performance
Table 2 below shows imports and exports of goods and services as well as the balance of trade for each. In 2021, exports of goods and services combined were worth £12.2 billion, while imports were worth £7.7 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of £4.5 billion.
Exports of goods were worth £9.2 billion, with imports of goods worth £6.8 billion, resulting in a surplus of £2.4 billion.
Exports of services were worth £3.0 billion, with imports worth £0.9 billion, resulting in a surplus of £2.0 billion.
Table 2: Exports, Imports and Trade Balance Split by Goods and Services : 2021 (£ billions)*
| Sales Type | Exports | Imports | Trade Balance (Exports - Imports) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALL | 12.2 | 7.7 | 4.5 |
| Goods | 9.2 | 6.8 | 2.4 |
| Services | 3.0 | 0.9 | 2.0 |
* Note: This table excludes trade with GB; Figures may not sum due to rounding
4.2 Trade in Goods and Services and Trade Balance over Time
Figure 12 below shows the time-series for the value of exports, the value of imports and the value of the trade balance for goods and services combined, as well as the value of each of goods and services. Exports have always been greater than imports and hence the trade balance has always been positive. The exports of goods and exports of services have consistently been greater than their import equivalent, thus the balance of trade for each of goods and services has remained positive for each year on survey record.
Figure 12: Exports, Imports and Trade Balance: 2011 – 2021 (£ billions)
4.3 Trade Balance by Industry
Figure 13 below shows the trade balance of goods and services combined by industry section for 2021. The vast majority of industries were net exporters, with section C (Manufacturing) having the largest trade balance (£3.9 billion). Section G was the largest net importer with a trade balance of -£1.3 billion.
Figure 13: Trade Balance by Industry Section: 2021 (£ millions)
4.4 Other Balance of Trade Estimates
While trade balance usually refers to the difference between exports and imports, it is possible to derive a balance of trade for any domain of interest for which for both sales and purchases data exist.
Figure 14 below shows the balance of trade for Northern Ireland’s principal trade partners. Total sales massively outweigh total purchases, with a difference of £28.4 billion. This is mainly driven by NI trade where sales are worth £52.1 billion and purchases are worth £26.5 billion, resulting in a surplus of £25.6 billion. NI has a trade surplus with IE of £2.1 billion, REU of £0.1 billion and with ROW (£2.3 billion), and a trade deficit with GB of £1.7 billion.
Figure 14: Trade and Balance of Trade by Trade Partner: 2021 (£ billions)
5 Background Notes
Background
The Northern Ireland Executive’s Economic Strategy referred to the need to improve the measurement of Northern Ireland’s exports beyond that of the manufacturing sector. NISRA subsequently published initial estimates of ‘broad economy’ sales and exports by industry sector in March 2015.
The contents of this report will be of interest to government policy makers, Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), the business community, economic commentators, academics and members of the general public with an interest in the NI economy.
The NIETS data has been of significant interest to Departments involved in EU Exit preparations and negotiations. Users of the data include the Department for the Economy (DfE), the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), HM Treasury (HMT), the Cabinet Office (CO), the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) alongside economic analysts and commentators.
The latest Department for the Economy Economic Commentary provides an overview of the state of the Northern Ireland economy, setting it in a global context.
DfE have also relied heavily on the NIETS data as part of their EU Exit related research. Some of their research and analysis can be found on the DfE EU Exit Analysis webpage.
Users should refer to the document “Background information - Northern Ireland Economic Trade Statistics” for further detail on survey coverage and definitions
Next Publication
The next bulletin, with results for survey year 2022, will be published in December 2023.
All publications will be available on the NISRA website.
Contact Information
If you require further information about the figures contained in this publication or the accompanying tables, please contact the Economic and Labour Market Statistics Branch using the details below:
Telephone: (028) 9052 9475
Email: economicstats@nisra.gov.uk
Web: Broad Economy Sales and Exports
Twitter: ‘@NISRA’