Northern Ireland’s economy showed broad-based growth in early 2026, with both production and services sector output rising over the quarter and the year, according to figures released on 18 June by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Production industries posted a 2.1% increase in output in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter, and a 7.6% rise year-on-year. This growth significantly outpaced the UK as a whole, where production output edged up just 0.2% over the quarter and 0.1% annually. Northern Ireland’s production sector is now 7.6% above its pre-pandemic level, while UK production is 6.4% below.

Growth in production was driven by manufacturing, which increased 1.6% on the quarter and 9.1% annually, along with electricity, gas and steam supply (up 6.1% quarterly, 7.4% annually) and mining and quarrying (up 10.4% quarterly). Water supply and waste management output declined 1.5% both over the quarter and year.

The services sector also expanded, with output rising 0.9% in the first quarter and 2.3% over the year. UK services growth was 0.8% quarterly and 1.4% annually. Northern Ireland’s services output is 11.3% higher than before the pandemic, compared to 8.4% for the UK.

Within services, financial and business services recorded the strongest quarterly growth at 4.1%, followed by transport, storage and communications (2.7%) and other services including education, health and arts (2.6%). The wholesale, retail, accommodation and food sector contracted by 0.3%.

Retail sales volumes increased 2.1% over the quarter and 1.8% year-on-year, and are now 3.9% above the pre-pandemic benchmark. By contrast, retail sales in Great Britain remained 0.7% below that level.

Labour market statistics for the period February to April 2026 showed the unemployment rate at 1.7%, down 0.4 percentage points on the quarter. The employment rate stood at 71.9%, with an estimated 896,000 people in work. Median monthly pay for employees was £2,462 in May, an increase of £94 or 4.0% over the year.

The claimant count in May 2026 was 35,100, representing 3.5% of the workforce and up 0.2% from the previous month. Confirmed redundancies in May totalled 90, bringing the annual total to 1,910, a 12% reduction on the previous year. Proposed redundancies fell by almost a fifth to 2,600.