Northern Ireland’s economy had a stronger start to the year than previously reported, with manufacturing and services from the NI Statistics and Research Agency (
www.nisra.gov) showing healthy growth rates for the second quarter of 2018 (and some first-quarter figures revised upwards).
Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector grew for the third straight quarter, with output accelerating from 0.6% to 0.9% in the second quarter of 2018. The 0.6% growth represents a revision of the original 0.2% fall reported for Q1 earlier this year.
Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey said: “This growth only brings output marginally above the Q2 2017 figure. The closure of the JTI tobacco plant in Ballymena had a huge impact on Northern Ireland’s industrial/manufacturing output.”
On a more positive note, manufacturing saw record highs in a number of sub-sectors. Basic and fabricated metal products did particularly well, increasing by 7.3% over the quarter, posting an annual rise of 12.5%.
Engineering activity fell back from recent highs, but the machinery and equipment sector hit a 10-year high during the second quarter.