The number of businesses operating in Northern Ireland rose to 82,680 at March 2026, an increase of 1.9 per cent compared with the same point in 2025.

The data comes from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which captures all entities registered for VAT or operating a PAYE scheme. It excludes sole traders and partnerships with turnover below the £90,000 VAT threshold that do not employ staff via PAYE.

Micro-sized businesses continue to account for the majority of enterprises on the register.

Among the four headline sectors, construction recorded the largest year-on-year percentage growth.

The geographic distribution of businesses across Northern Ireland’s 11 local government districts remained broadly stable. Belfast accounted for 14.6 per cent of all businesses, while Antrim and Newtownabbey had the smallest share at 5.4 per cent.

There were 2,325 non-Northern Ireland-owned businesses on the register, representing 2.8 per cent of the total.