Services Sector Performing Well As Economy Grows In First Quarter

The latest statistics suggest that the economy in Northern Ireland is growing, with the services sector at the forefront of this momentum.

Data shows that the economy expanded by 1.4% overall in the first quarter of this year, compared to the first quarter last year (2023). The services sector, as we mentioned, performed particularly well, and the construction industry also had a decent first quarter, however manufacturing output continued in its downward trajectory.

The Feeling Is That This Year Should Be Far Better Than 2023

The hope and the feeling across the whole business sector is that 2024 should be a far better year than the last one. 2023 was held back by the high inflation rates which ravaged the economy and also the series of industrial disputes which stalled progress in many areas. Now most of these disputes have been sorted out and the inflation rate has reduced considerably there is more reason for optimism all around.

Here are some snippets of this latest data and some commentary, as copied from an article on the BBC News website. On the inflation rate slowing down and industrial disputes lessening it says that:

‘That is reflected in a better performance for consumer services with the broad retail and hospitality sector growing by 2.2% in the first quarter of the year.

‘Services is the largest part of the economy and includes business services.

‘Business services, which include law, accountancy and management consulting, has been the best performing part of the NI economy since the pandemic.

‘Output in that sector is at a 10-year high and has expanded by more than 30% since its pre-pandemic level at the end of 2019.

‘It continued to expand in the first quarter of this year although the rate of expansion has moderated with quarterly growth of 0.7%.

‘The strong performance may reflect the work that Northern Ireland-based employees do for GB and international customers.’

The Construction Sector Looks To Be Recovering After A Difficult Period

The article goes on to say that:

‘The new figures also suggest that the construction sector is recovering after a difficult period.

‘Construction output has now seen three consecutive quarterly increases including a 4.5% increase in the first quarter of this year.

‘By contrast the figures suggest that a difficult period for the local manufacturing sector is continuing.

‘Output across manufacturing fell by 0.4% over the quarter and was down by 3.7% compared to the same period last year.

‘Manufacturing output was flat for much of 2022 and has been falling since the start of last year.

‘There is significant variation between manufacturing sub-sectors with some, such as transport equipment, growing strongly.’

It will be very interesting to see if this upward trend for the economy in NI has continued into the 2nd quarter of the year.