Improvements In Productivity Required In NI According To Latest Report

The 2024 Dashboard is a report compiled by the Northern Ireland Productivity Forum, which is based at the Queens’s Business School in Belfast. The 2023 version of this Dashboard saw Northern Ireland performing really well, in fact it came out top in productivity growth out of all the 12 regions of the UK, which moved it up to 7th in overall productivity across the regions.

However this year’s readings are not so inspiring. NI has dropped from 7th to 10th place in overall productivity levels, with 14 of the 18 drivers of productivity below the UK average. The readings are still better than pre-Covid levels but it is quite a disappointing report after the improvements showing last year.

Dashboard Report In More Detail

Here are the key findings of the report, as copied from an article on the Business Eye website. It says that:

• Northern Ireland’s productivity improvement during the Covid-19 pandemic has been only temporary, with Northern Ireland’s productivity gap to the UK level widening again, although it is still ahead of its pre-pandemic performance. 
• Four council areas – Derry City & Strabane, Mid Ulster, Lisburn & Castlereagh, and Mid & East Antrim – saw the largest improvement in their productivity compared to their performance before the Covid-19 pandemic.  
• R&D expenditure has continued to increase in Northern Ireland, placing it third out of six regional groupings across the UK, performing better than the North of England, Scotland and Wales. 
• The number of individuals with no or only entry level qualifications has continued to improve, but Northern Ireland still lags behind other regions, with one major contributing factor being out-migration or the ‘brain drain’. 
• Access to gigabit-capable internet remains above the rest of the UK. 
• The political uncertainty faced by SMEs when running their business has improved over the short-term, although Northern Ireland performs the worst of any UK region. 

Increasing Productivity Key To Higher Wages And Better Living Standards

In the same article here is what Dr David Jordan from Queen’s Business School said about the findings of the report:

“It is important that the public be informed of this, as increasing productivity is key to higher wages and better living standards for people across Northern Ireland. Low productivity is the central issue that explains Northern Ireland’s persistently poor economic performance, and productivity is the biggest long-term challenge that policymakers face. 

“Productivity has been chosen as one of four economic priorities by the Economy Minister Conor Murphy, emphasising its importance. The Dashboard will help policymakers identify the key areas where improvements are needed to raise productivity in Northern Ireland.” 

Dr Jordan is absolutely right, higher productivity is vital if the people of Northern Ireland are to achieve a better standard of living. The government must do everything in their power to help businesses and their employees achieve this.