Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what contribution the public sector made to growth in GDP in Northern Ireland in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Northern Ireland’s public sector gross valued added (GVA) (defined as the sum of Public Administration & Defence, Education and Human health and social work activities) accounted for 26.5% of Northern Ireland’s GVA in 2020. There are currently no official ONS estimates of sector GVA in 2021 for Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency publish an experimental quarterly Composite Economic Index (NICEI), which provides a more recent measure of economic activity, including for the public sector. In the final quarter of 2021, annual growth in the NICEI was 4.9%, of which the public sector contributed 0.5 percentage points. The NICEI is not produced on a fully equivalent basis to UK GDP.

The ONS’ GVA data for Northern Ireland will capture the contribution of spend from the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for allocating their funding from their Barnett-based block grant as they see fit in all areas of devolved responsibility, such as health and education. The Northern Ireland Executive received a total Barnett-based block grant of £17.2bn in 2020-21 and £16.2bn in 2021-22.