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A blog from the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service

Economy and Finance Blog Archive

Here you will find an archive of Economy and Finance Blog articles published before 1 May 2022, divided into their relevant categories.

Economy

Copy of the Northern Ireland Executive’s Economic Strategy and the Programme for Government Consultation Document
By Eóin Murphy, Michael Scholes, and Aidan Stennett The Northern Ireland Executive is currently revising its Economic Strategy.  What are the key factors it should take into consideration when…
Dark Hedges, County Antrim (Image: Valerie Hinojosa, under Creative Commons)
Despite the absence of a centralised tourism strategy, the sector makes a significant contribution to the Northern Ireland economy and has exceeded targets set out in the previous Programme…
Figure 2: NI exports to EU and non-EU countries, percentage of total exports, 2004-2014
A referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU is to take place on Thursday 23rd June. Voters will be asked ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the…

Employment and Labour Market

An image showing a shop sign that says 'Sorry, we're closed'
Recent figures show a decline in part-time work in Northern Ireland (NI) since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] This article describes recent job losses and investigates their impact…
An image showing members of staff doing 'high fives'
By Michael Scholes & Aidan Stennett To highlight International Women’s Day, the following article updates our previous blog article examining the Gender Pay Gap in Northern Ireland, presenting the…
A graph comparing Northern Ireland median hourly pay by industry and gender for 2019
By Michael Scholes & Aidan Stennett To highlight International Women’s Day, the following article updates our previous blog article examining the Gender Pay Gap in Northern Ireland, presenting the…

Energy

Image of wind farm in front of a setting sun
There was considerable growth in the development of renewable electricity over the previous Northern Ireland Assembly mandate. Changes to renewable electricity support may impact the ability to achieve similar levels…

Enterprise and Investment

This post examines financial support provided by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) to businesses located in Northern Ireland (NI) from 2013-14 to 2017-18, identifying key impacts arising from that…

Finance

An image showing the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2019, with a selection of cash
This blog article provides an update on Northern Ireland public finances in the absence of fully functioning devolved government. It explains recently enacted budget legislation and notes political developments…
An image of closed shop units and 'To Let' signs
On 9 May 2019 the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Finance (DoF) announced a fresh appraisal of the fundamental features of the Northern Ireland (NI) rating system. This…
A chart showing the scale of change in TES proportions in % points, 1999-2000 to 2016-2017
The finances of Northern Ireland’s schools have been in the spotlight for some time. For example, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster is currently holding an Inquiry into…

Research and Innovation

Copy of the Northern Ireland Executive’s Economic Strategy and the Programme for Government Consultation Document
By Eóin Murphy, Michael Scholes, and Aidan Stennett The Northern Ireland Executive is currently revising its Economic Strategy.  What are the key factors it should take into consideration when…