Northern Ireland economy reaches new high after 1% quarterly growth

September 24, 2026 The Belfast Desk 3 Comments

The Northern Ireland economy grew by 1.0% in the second quarter of 2026, reaching a new high in the Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index (NICEI), figures published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) show.

Belfast skyline at City Quays illustrating Northern Ireland economy figures — Belfast’s City Quays skyline. Photo: Davidw1406 / Wikimedia Commons.

Economic output between April and June was 2.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2025 and 12.7% above its level before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest release.

Northern Ireland economy driven by services and production

Services and production each contributed 0.4 percentage points to the quarterly increase. Over the year, production made the largest contribution to growth, followed by the public sector, services and construction.

Private sector output rose by 1.0% over the quarter and 2.2% over the year. Public sector output increased by 0.9% and 2.5% respectively.

Growth despite quarterly fall in construction

The overall increase came despite a 1.7% quarterly decline in construction output, reported separately by NISRA on Thursday. Construction activity nevertheless remained 3.5% above its level a year earlier. [Link here to your construction output story once you copy its published URL.]

UK GDP grew by 0.4% over the quarter and 1.2% over the year. NISRA cautions that the UK GDP and NICEI measures are not produced on a fully equivalent basis, so the figures should be treated as an indication of their respective trends rather than a direct like-for-like comparison.

The NICEI draws together official data on services, production, construction, public sector employment and agriculture to provide a quarterly measure of Northern Ireland’s economic performance. The figures may be revised as further data becomes available. The full results and tables are available from NISRA.