28/07/2017

Slight Decline In NI Food And Processing Sector

Northern Ireland's food and drinks processing sector experienced a slight decline in 2016, a new report has revealed.

Provisional estimates from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs states turnover fell 3.1% from £4.424 billion in 2015 to £4.423bn in 2016.

Overall, five of the the subsectors in the food and drinks processing sector experienced a decrease in turnover, while five experience and increase.

The largest decreases are estimated to have occurred in the beef and sheepmeat (-£29.6 million) and pigmeat (-£12.2m) subsectors. These decreases were largely offset by increases in the drinks (+£16.6m), bakeries (+£13.9m) and fruit and vegetables (+£11m) subsectors.

However, the total number of direct full-time employees increased by 2.3% to just over 22,017.

In addition, an estimated 2,741 full-time employee equivalents were sourced from Employment Agencies in 2016.

(LM)

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