Northern Ireland Executive

10/08/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/08/2026 03:19

Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey Statistics 2024

Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey Statistics 2024

Date published: 8 October 2026

The Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey 2024 (BRES) statistics were released this morning by NISRA.

The bulletin and tables can be accessed on the NISRA website at https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/annual-employee-jobs-surveys/business-register-and-employment-survey

BRES is an annual statutory survey of businesses requesting information on working owners, employee jobs and business activity.

BRES represents the number of employee jobs rather than the number of persons with a job. As a result, a person holding both a full-time job and a part-time job, or someone with two part-time jobs, will be counted twice.

Key points

Key points from the 2024 Business Register and Employment Survey bulletin are listed below.

Employee jobs increased by 1.4% over the year to September 2024

  • The total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland, including Agriculture, in September 2024 was estimated at 827,815 jobs, an increase of 11,253 jobs (1.4%) since September 2023.

Employee jobs increased in three of the four headline industries

  • The increase in employee jobs was mainly driven by growth across the Services industry, which rose by 9,525 jobs (1.4%). The Construction industry increased by 2,040 jobs (5.5%) over the year to September 2024, following a decrease of just under 1,000 in the previous 12-month period. There was further job growth in Manufacturing (932 jobs or 1.0%).
  • The number of jobs in other industries, including Agriculture, fell by 1,245 (4.9%) over the year to September 2024.

Employee jobs increased in all but one of eleven LGDs

  • Of the 11 local government districts in Northern Ireland, only Antrim & Newtownabbey (-891 jobs or -1.5%) saw a decline in the number of employee jobs over the year to September 2024.
  • Belfast saw the largest absolute increase in jobs (3,116) which accounted for just under 30% of total growth. The largest percentage increase over the same period was witnessed in Lisburn & Castlereagh (3.0%).

Notes to editors:

  1. The BRES data are disaggregated at sub-Northern Ireland geographical levels. The geographical information is, for the most part, based on the location of the jobs at a local unit level. Businesses often relocate employee jobs from one area to another. This causes changes in employee job counts at geographical levels. The relocation or change of reporting procedures by large employers can therefore affect BRES sub-NI analysis when making annual comparisons.
  2. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to: Responsible statistician: Matthew Williams, Economic & Labour Market Statistics Branch (ELMS), [email protected] or Tel: 028 90336111.
  3. Follow NISRA on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook - @NISRA
  4. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office.
  5. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
  6. To keep up to date with news from the Department for the Economy, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Northern Ireland Executive published this content on October 08, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 08, 2026 at 09:19 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]