HomeThe Belfast economy
Until the recent economic downturn, Belfast was one of
the fastest growing regional economies in the UK. The city had experienced over a decade of
sustained investment, economic growth and has reduced
unemployment to historically low levels. During this period, increased political and social stability, generous European funding support and a favourable global economy have combined to revive Belfast's wealth.
Productivity
Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita provides a good comparative measure of productivity. GVA per capita for Belfast is £28,522.The trend in productivity for Belfast is promising, between 2000 and 2006 GVA per capita in Belfast increased by 45.9%. In 2006 £7,626 million GVA was generated in the Belfast Local Government District - 28.5% of Northern Ireland's GVA.
Source: Office for National Statistics (December 2008) www.statistics.gov.uk
Employment
Belfast has almost 28% of the total employment in Northern Ireland (this figure rises to 46% in the Belfast Metropolitan Area). However, as with many other European industrialised regions, traditional manufacturing industries, that were once the lifeblood of the economy, have now decreased in importance.Reduced employment opportunities in this sector have been offset by a considerable increase in those employed in other areas such as the public sector and business services sector.
The public sector plays a huge role in Belfast's economy. Almost two out of every five jobs are in public administration, education and the health sector.
Northern Ireland Census of Employment
The total number of jobs in Belfast was 198,796 in 2007. When the economy is broken down, 'Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities' is the largest industrial sector in Belfast employing 35,596 employees. 'Health and Social Work' is the second largest sector with 32,786 employees.Unemployment
Belfast has an unemployment rate of 6.5% (July 2009). Although this is more than double the extremely low figure of 3.2% which was reached in 2006, it still shows a marked improvement from recent years. The increasing number of jobs in the city has had a positive effect on unemployment which has fallen dramatically in recent years from 9.3% in 1997 to 3.9% in 2007.The labour force
- Roughly 30,000 additional jobs were created over the last decade in Belfast and close to 21,000 more jobs are forecast between 2006 and 2016.
- Labour turnover is less than 80%.
- Labour cost is 15% lower than the UK average.
- Belfast has a high working age economic activity rate of 70.1% in 2006 - slightly lower than the overall Northern Ireland working age activity rate of 72.3%.
- Employment rates are fairly low - in 2006 less than two thirds (65.5%) of the city's working age population were employed or self-employed.
Earnings
The average gross weekly earnings of full time employees in Belfast increased by 3.87% between 2006 and 2008. The average gross weekly earnings of full time employees in Belfast is £525.90 in comparison to £675.20 for Northern Ireland.Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2007, NI Local Government District 2006 - 2008.
Claimant count
Claimant count measures those people who are claiming unemployment related benefits known as Jobseeker's Allowance. The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the city has increased from 3.4% in December 2007 to 6.2% in July 2009.The claimant count rate in Belfast in July 2009 was higher than in all the other councils in the metropolitan area.
Source: DETI, Economic Overview, July 2009.
