The Business Register and Employment Survey 2022 statistics were published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

• The latest Northern Ireland Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) statistics were released to the public this morning at 9.30am by NISRA. The data relate to 5 September 2022. Corresponding figures for the whole of the UK will be released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 25 October 2023.
   
• BRES is an annual statutory survey of businesses requesting information on working owners, employee jobs and business activity. NISRA wishes to thank businesses for responding to the survey. Business survey data have a range of uses. Most recently during the pandemic they informed the development, implementation, and evaluation of COVID-related business support schemes.
   
• BRES counts the number of jobs rather than the number of persons with a job. As a result, a person holding both a full-time job and a part-time job, or someone with two part-time jobs, will be counted twice. Key facts from the bulletin are presented below.

The total employment in Northern Ireland at September 2022 was 836,873

• The total employment in Northern Ireland at September 2022 was 836,873. Employment includes employees plus the number of working owners, who receive drawings and/or a share of the profits but are not paid via pay-as-you-earn (PAYE). The largest proportion of working owners was in Construction (6,161 or 14% of total Construction employment).

Employee jobs increased by 1.7% over the year to September 2022

• BRES 2022 indicated that the total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland at September 2022 was 805,848. This represents an increase in employee jobs of 13,222 (1.7%) from September 2021.

Employee jobs increased in Construction, Manufacturing, and Services but declined in Other industries

• The Service industry dominated employee jobs in Northern Ireland, accounting for 81% (655,661) of the total. The second largest industry was Manufacturing with 88,026 jobs (11%), and together they accounted for over 9 in every 10 employee jobs (92%) in Northern Ireland.
   
• Employee jobs increased in Manufacturing, Services and Construction while there was a decline in Other over the year, following increases across all headline industries in the previous year. The increase in employee jobs was driven by growth in the Service industry (11,193 jobs), which was responsible for 85% of the total increase.
   
• Construction and Manufacturing both grew over the year to September 2022, with a further 829 (2.2%) Construction jobs and 1,323 (1.5%) Manufacturing jobs. Growth was higher than in the previous year for Construction (0.8%).

Employee jobs increased in both the public and private sectors

• BRES 2022 estimated the number of private sector jobs as 587,210, an increase of 1.5% (8,797) over the year. The number of public sector jobs was 218,638, an increase of 2.1% (4,425) over the same period.
   
• The public sector accounts for 27% of employee jobs in NI. This compares to 18% in UK as a whole.

Employee jobs increased in all district council areas in Northern Ireland except for Mid and East Antrim

• All district council areas in Northern Ireland saw an increase in employee jobs except for Mid and East Antrim, where a very small, insignificant decline (20 jobs) was observed over the year. Belfast experienced the largest increase in number of jobs (3,623 or 1.6%) whereas Lisburn and Castlereagh saw the largest percentage increase in employee jobs at 3.3% (or 2,018 jobs).
   
• Employee job changes at district council area level were mostly driven by increases in the Service industry. This was particularly true of Belfast (2,758) and Lisburn and Castlereagh (2,177).
   
• Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon saw the largest increase in Construction jobs over the year (371 or 8.4%), while Lisburn and Castlereagh saw the highest percentage growth (9.0% or 314). Mid Ulster saw the largest decline in Construction employee jobs (6.2% or 369).
   
• Newry Mourne and Down had the largest increase and percentage increase in Manufacturing jobs (9.1% or 746) of the eleven district council areas whilst, Lisburn and Castlereagh saw the largest decline (8.1% or 483).