- Recent research found the agri-food sector generated £7.3bn in GVA for the local economy in 2024, providing the equivalent of around 109k full-time jobs.
- These figures include downstream economic effects so not all of all this stems directly from agri-food.
- The food and drink industry was directly responsible for around £2.8bn, with the remaining £4.5bn generated either indirectly or via induced household spending.
- Similarly, the sector provided around 60k FTE jobs (36k in farming and 24k in food production) with the rest of the 109k resulting from knock-on economic effects.
- Invest NI estimates that the local economic benefit might be even higher.
Giving a statement in the Assembly chamber in praise of the Balmoral Show, UUP MLA Robbie Butler claimed:
“Farmers and food producers [underpin] what has been quantified as a £7.3bn a year industry that provides over 109,000 full-time equivalent jobs in Northern Ireland.”
There are two parts to this claim:
- Farmers and food producers underpin an industry worth £7.3bn per year
- That industry provides over 109,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Those are big numbers. And we’ve found that the claims are supported by evidence.
Recent research commissioned by the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association indicates that, based on data for 2024, the agri-food sector generated £7.3bn in gross value added (GVA) for the NI economy, and provided 109,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.
However, these estimates include all downstream effects from the sector.
The food and drink industry was directly responsible for £2.8bn in GVA while the other £4.5bn was a result of indirect economic generation (£2.4bn) or induced spending from households (£2.1bn).
Similarly, the sector directly provided around 60,000 FTE jobs (36k in farming and 24k in food production) with the rest stemming from indirect or induced means.
For more information, read on.
- Source
FactCheckNI contacted Mr Butler about this claim and he informed us that the details are found in an independent report carried out by EY and commissioned by the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA).
- Research
NIFDA is a voluntary organisation that works closely with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
In April this year the organisation published an assessment of the economic impact of the local food and drinks sector, based on the data from 2024. That report states:
“Northern Ireland’s food and drink sector is one of the most economically significant and system-critical components of the regional economy. In 2024, the sector supported £7.3bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) equating to £3,791 per capita and approximately 109,000 full-time equivalent jobs, extending well beyond direct production into supply chains, services and local economies across Northern Ireland.
“The economic footprint of food and drink reflects strong multiplier effects. While £2.8bn of GVA is generated directly, a further £4.5bn is supported indirectly and through induced household spending, underscoring the sector’s role as an engine of wider economic activity.”
This economic assessment backs up what Mr Butler is saying but it is important to understand the full context here.
Farming and other food production do not on their own directly generate £7.3bn per year or provide 109,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. However, when also considering their knock-on or “multiplier” economic effects, they are the foundation of an industry of that size.
The NIFDA/EY report states that agriculture alone supports almost 36,000 FTE jobs while food and drink manufacturing supports almost 24,000.
The following two charts appeared in the NIFDA report. The first shows the total economic contributions of the agri-food sector (measured in GVA) and the second the employment impacts that the industry leads to:
- Directly
- Indirectly, meaning activity supported throughout local supply chains via the purchase of goods and services from local companies
- That are induced, meaning the activity the industry “supports through employee spending via directly and indirectly supported employment”
Figure 1 – source: NIFDA
So, of the £7.3bn generated in 2024, only £2.8bn of this was generated directly, while the other £4.5bn was generated downstream (£2.4bn from indirect and £2.1bn from induced GVA).
It is important to note that Mr Butler may not have provided all these details but he still communicated the picture appropriately by saying that farmers and food producers “underpin” an industry of such a size. This claim is supported by evidence.
- Other numbers
The NIFDA/EY figures are not official statistics. So are there any other sources of information to back up this analysis?
At least one alternative source for the size of the agri-food sector suggests the NIFDA/EY analysis could be an underestimate.
Invest NI states that, according to key performance indicator data for 2024, the food and drink industry is “worth over £8 billion in Northern Ireland and is the region’s largest manufacturer.”
A newer analysis from the organisation suggests that total sales from the agri-food sector was £9.6bn in 2025.
At the same time, these numbers are based on estimates the rely on extrapolation from surveys of Invest NI clients, with the agency stating that its “figures should not be interpreted as reflective of the whole NI economy, for which more comprehensive data are available from the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).”
- Wider context
The NIFDA (or, indeed, Invest NI) figures indicate that agri-food represents a significant chunk of the NI economy.
By way of illustration, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures on GVA for Northern Ireland for 2023 (the most recent year in the latest dataset) state that NI’s total GVA for that year was £56bn.
Meanwhile, a May 2026 report from Ulster University on local employment suggests that the total NI workforce, including those who are self-employed, is around 870,000 (although this data covers 2025 and this relates to individual people in work and not full-time equivalent workloads).
None of these figures are directly comparable with the claims this article unpacks. But they help illustrate how the total economic impact of agri-food can be seen to be over 10% of both GVA and employment.
