Northern Ireland: official figures: your questions answered
Northern Ireland population, hospital and A&E waits, economy, jobs, Assembly elections, exam results, crime, house prices, rates and trade data.
How is the Northern Ireland economy doing?
Economic activity in Northern Ireland rose 1.0% in real terms in April to June 2026 to a series high, and was 2.3% higher than a year earlier, according to NISRA's Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index (NICEI), published on 24 September 2026. UK GDP grew 0.4% over the same quarter.
The NICEI is a quarterly index of output built from a range of indicators, not a full GDP measure. Annual GDP comes from the ONS regional GDP release, which showed Northern Ireland's real GDP growing 0.7% in 2024.
The NICEI and UK GDP are not produced on an equivalent basis, so NISRA advises care when comparing them.
Related: How big is the UK economy (GDP)? · What is the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland? · What is Scotland's GDP? · What is the GDP of Wales?
What is the population of Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland's population was 1,928,400 on 30 June 2025, up 600 people or 0.03% on the year, according to NISRA's 2025 mid-year population estimates, published on 24 September 2026. Births exceeding deaths were the only source of growth that year.
The mid-year estimates page has tables for all 11 council areas by age and sex, back to 1971. Census 2021 results, including the religion, religion brought up in and national identity tables, are in NISRA's main statistics.
Census religion questions ask both current religion and religion brought up in, so check which one a figure uses.
Related: What is the population of the UK? · Where can I find UK census data? · What is the population of Scotland? · What is the population of Wales?
Where can I find GCSE and A level results for Northern Ireland?
The Department of Education publishes the official qualifications and destinations of school leavers each year, showing the share of leavers with five or more GCSEs at A* to C, two or more A levels and other measures, by school type, sex, free school meal entitlement and area.
CCEA, Northern Ireland's awarding body and exams regulator, publishes provisional summer results statistics for its qualifications on its website. Pupils in Northern Ireland also take English and Welsh boards' qualifications, so CCEA data alone do not cover every entry.
Transfer test results are produced by the independent bodies that set the tests, not by the Department of Education, so they are not official statistics. Northern Ireland GCSEs use a nine-grade scale with a C* grade, so compare grades with care.
Related: Where can I find official GCSE results statistics? · Where can I find GCSE results for Wales? · Where can I find SQA exam results statistics?
How are domestic rates calculated in Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland has domestic rates instead of council tax. A household's bill is the property's capital value, based on prices at 1 January 2005, multiplied by the regional rate set by the Executive plus the district rate set by the local council, as nidirect explains. Capital values above £400,000 are ignored, so £400,000 is the maximum used.
Land & Property Services values each property and collects the rates. The annual rate poundages for each council are published by the Department of Finance, and nidirect has a guide to rates covering reliefs for pensioners, people on low incomes and disabled people.
Because rates use capital values rather than bands, comparisons with council tax bills in Great Britain need care.
Related: How much has council tax gone up this year? · How much is council tax in Scotland? · How much is council tax in Wales?
How long are hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland?
On 30 June 2026, 504,537 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment in Northern Ireland, down from 510,680 on 31 March, and 270,731 of them had waited more than 52 weeks, according to the Department of Health's outpatient waiting time statistics published on 3 September 2026.
Inpatient and day case, diagnostic and cancer waits are published separately each quarter on the Department's hospital waiting times page, with tables by health and social care trust and specialty. The draft target is that half of patients wait no more than nine weeks for a first appointment and none longer than 52 weeks.
Figures from the new encompass record system have been treated as official statistics in development, so check the notes before comparing trusts or years.
Related: What are NHS waiting times in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? · What are A&E waiting times in Northern Ireland? · How long are NHS Wales waiting lists?
How do Northern Ireland Assembly elections work?
The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 MLAs, five from each of 18 constituencies, elected by single transferable vote: voters rank candidates in order of preference and surplus and eliminated votes transfer until all seats are filled.
The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland publishes official count sheets and results, including first preference votes and every transfer stage, in its election results archive. The most recent Assembly election was in May 2022 (2022 results), and the current mandate runs to 2027. Members and parties are listed by the Assembly.
First preference shares and seat totals can tell different stories under STV, so check which a claim uses.
Related: Where can I find official UK election results? · How do Scottish Parliament elections work? · How does the new Senedd voting system work?
What is the crime rate in Northern Ireland?
The PSNI recorded 93,601 crimes in the year to 31 March 2026, down 2.3% on the previous year and the lowest since the series began in 1998/99, according to its police recorded crime bulletin published on 14 May 2026.
Full answer, with the latest figure and past values →
Related: How do I find the crime rate in my area? · Is crime going up or down in the UK? · How many police officers are there in Scotland?
What is the average house price in Northern Ireland?
The average house price in Northern Ireland was £202,487 in April to June 2026, up 2.1% on the quarter and 9.2% on the year, according to the Northern Ireland House Price Index released by Land & Property Services on 19 August 2026. Prices ranged from £177,450 in Mid and East Antrim to £240,737 in Lisburn and Castlereagh, and remained 4.8% below the 2007 peak.
The index uses HMRC stamp duty data and feeds into the UK House Price Index, so it is comparable with the rest of the UK. Quarterly tables by council area and property type are on the NI HPI page.
Sales counts for the latest quarter are provisional and rise as late returns arrive.
Related: What is the average house price in the UK? · How do I find sold house prices? · How are domestic rates calculated in Northern Ireland?
What is the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.4% for May to July 2026, with an employment rate of 72.2% and an economic inactivity rate of 26.0%, according to NISRA's Labour Market Report published on 15 September 2026.
The monthly report also gives the claimant count (33,400 in August 2026), payrolled employees and median pay from HMRC data, quarterly employee jobs and confirmed redundancies. All releases are on NISRA's labour market overview page.
The unemployment rate comes from a sample survey with a wide margin of error in Northern Ireland, so NISRA flags which changes are statistically significant. People who are not looking for work are counted as economically inactive, not unemployed, so read the unemployment rate alongside the 26.0% inactivity rate.
Related: What is the UK unemployment rate? · How is UK unemployment calculated? · How is the Northern Ireland economy doing?
What are A&E waiting times in Northern Ireland?
The Department of Health publishes emergency care waiting time statistics every quarter, covering attendances at each emergency department, the time from arrival to discharge or admission, time to triage and time to treatment, against Northern Ireland's emergency care targets. The April to June 2026 release was published on 12 August 2026, with an interactive version for each hospital.
The release also reports calls to Phone First services. Live waiting times shown on trust websites are operational information, not official statistics.
Official UK-wide work has found Northern Ireland's A&E times are not directly comparable with the other nations because the clock stops at a different point. See our guide to devolved health statistics.
Related: How long are A&E waiting times? · How long are hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland?
How much public money is spent in Northern Ireland?
HM Treasury's Country and Regional Analysis sets out identifiable public spending in Northern Ireland and per person each year, alongside the other UK nations and English regions. The ONS country and regional public sector finances estimate revenue, spending and the net fiscal balance; the Department of Finance stopped its own Net Fiscal Balance Report to avoid duplicating them.
The Executive's spending is mainly the UK block grant, shown in the Department of Finance's block grant transparency tables and budget documents. The Northern Ireland Fiscal Council publishes independent assessments and a public expenditure databank.
Executive budgets cover devolved spending only, not UK-wide items such as state pensions.
Related: How much does Scotland get from the Barnett formula? · How is UK tax revenue spent? · What is Scotland's deficit (GERS)?
What official trade data is there for Northern Ireland and the Windsor Framework?
NISRA's Northern Ireland Economic Trade Statistics are the main official source on trade between Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Ireland and other markets, covering goods and services. The 2024 results, published on 11 March 2026, estimated total business sales of £109.3 billion: £69.5 billion within Northern Ireland, £20.1 billion to Great Britain and £19.6 billion in exports outside the UK.
HMRC's Regional Trade Statistics cover goods exports and imports by UK nation and region quarterly. NISRA explains why its export values differ from HMRC's.
The data describe trade flows, not the effect of any single arrangement such as the Windsor Framework, so check what a claim attributes to it.
Related: How is the Northern Ireland economy doing? · How big is the UK economy (GDP)?
Source guides for this topic
These answers say where official figures are published and how they are defined. They give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.