Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics (BESES)

Date published: 12 December 2018

The latest experimental Northern Ireland BESES was published today.

The latest experimental Northern Ireland Broad Economy Sales and Exports Statistics (BESES) were published at 9.30am this morning. The key results were:

• Total sales by companies in Northern Ireland (NI) were estimated to be worth £66.6 billion in 2017, a decrease of 1.7% (£1.1 billion) over the calendar year.
• Sales within NI increased by £1.3 billion to £45.2 billion, up 2.9% over the year and are at the highest level since the survey commenced in 2011.
• Sales to Great Britain (GB) decreased by £2.9 billion to £11.3 billion, down 20.2% over the year. 
• Sales to markets outside the UK (exports) increased by £467 million (4.8%) over the year, to £10.1 billion.
• Sales to all markets outside NI (external sales) i.e. GB sales plus exports, fell by £2.4 billion (10.1%) to £21.4 billion, and accounted for almost a third of total sales in 2017 (32.1%).
• The falls in External sales and sales to GB over the calendar year are the first since the survey began in 2011. These were driven by a substantial decline in the Food, Beverages and Tobacco sub sector.
• Exports to the Republic of Ireland (IE) increased by £540 million (16.2%) over the year, to £3.9 billion.
• Exports to the Rest of the EU (REU, excluding IE) fell over the year by £269 million (12.1%) to £2.0 billion.  Exports to the Rest of the World (RoW) increased by £195 million (4.8%) over the year, to £4.3 billion.
• Full publication