A billion is 1,000,000,000 and is the same as 1,000 million.
Spend per person is calculated by dividing the spend in pounds in a year by the mid-year population estimate. In the total population of NI was people.
How is NI Executive spending managed?
NI Executive spending is managed by nine departments which are headed by Ministers (Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs; Communities; Education; Economy; Finance; Infrastructure; Health; Justice and The Executive Office) and six departments which are not headed by Ministers (NI Assembly; Public Prosecution Service; Food Standards Agency; NI Audit Office; NI Public Services Ombudsman; and the NI Authority for Utility Regulation).
It covers areas such as education, health, employment, transport, justice and longer-term investment in schools, hospitals, roads etc. as well as benefits and pensions.
Local council spending is not included.
Why separate spending on public services and investments from benefits and pensions?
While the NI Executive manages all spending in NI, it does not decide how all of it is spent. Benefits and pensions fall into a different group of managed expenditure from public services.
AME – Annually Managed Expenditure – is spending which is demand led and therefore cannot be easily planned, managed or controlled within multi-year budgets. Examples include welfare benefits (i.e. social security payments), tax credits, and public sector pensions.
Spending on public services and investments that is generally within a department's control such as education, health, employment, transport, justice etc. can be managed within a limit.
The NI Executive therefore does have discretion over this group of spending which are known as 'departmental expenditure limits' or DELs.
These are managed through the
NI Budget process and the
in-year monitoring process.
NI Executive spending is broken down into more detail below. In the departmental sections, only DEL spending is presented. Further, more detailed information is available in the data that can be downloaded at the top of this page.
The spending can be further broken down into Capital and Resource. Capital spend includes investment in assets (buildings, vehicles etc.) whilst Resource spend covers day to day spending (wages, utility bills etc.)
Pages specifically showing Capital or Resource spend are also available if you wish to see more detail.
Where does the funding come from?
The funding comes from a number of different sources. The largest source is the block grant which is essentially the portion of the NI Executive's funding that comes from the UK Government.
The other main sources are:
More information on the funding split can be found in the ‘Further reading’ section below in the Draft budget factsheet.
Click on a box below to see a detailed breakdown
AME (which stands for annually managed expenditure) covers more unpredictable, demand-led spending for areas such as benefits and pensions.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.Department of Health’s main responsibilities are: Health and Social Care (HSC), which includes policy and legislation for hospitals, family practitioner services and community health and personal social services; Public Health, which covers policy, legislation and administrative action to promote and protect the health and well-being of the population; and Public Safety, which covers policy and legislation for fire and rescue services.
More details on the Department of Health website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department of Education’s responsibilities include: 0 to 4 years education provision, primary and post-primary, special education (including Special Educational Needs) and the youth service.
More details are available on the Department of Education website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department for Infrastructure’s responsibilities include: the roads network; rivers and inland waterways; water and sewerage network; public transport network – bus and rail; road safety services; planning legislation, policy, advice and guidance; regeneration of two historic sites (Crumlin Road Gaol and St Lucia Barracks); and ports policy and legislative framework.
More details are available on the Department of Infrastructure website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department of Justice is responsible for the legislative and policy framework of the justice system as well as the delivery of essential services. While those services are largely delivered on behalf of the Department by five Executive Agencies, each with specific responsibilities, the DoJ also provides resources and a legislative framework for eight Non-Departmental Public Bodies, which jointly constitute a significant part of the justice system in Northern Ireland.
More details are available on the Department of Justice website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department for Communities’ responsibilities include: social housing; delivery of a social welfare system and pension service; supporting people to find work; social, economic and physical regeneration of cities, towns and villages; supporting district councils; supporting creative industries and the voluntary sector; and enabling, encouraging and promoting social inclusion.
More details are available on the Department for Communities website.Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department for the Economy’s responsibilities include: leading on economic policy and strategy; Energy; supporting Further Education Colleges; improving the skills profile of the population; delivering the Higher Education Strategy; delivering Apprenticeships programmes; delivering the Youth Training and Youth Inclusion programmes; and supporting the Tourism sector in NI.
More details are available on the Department for the Economy's website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ responsibilities include assisting the sustainable development of the agri-food, environmental, fishing, forestry and rural sectors of the Northern Ireland economy.
More details are available on the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs' website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Department of Finance’s responsibilities include: developing and delivering a budget for Northern Ireland; managing public expenditure and allocating resources; collecting rates revenue; providing shared and professional services relating to Information Technology, Accommodation, Finance, Human Resources (HR), Procurement, and Legal; and providing statistical services through NISRA.
More details are available on the Department of Finance's website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.The Executive Office’s responsibilities include: delivery of an agreed Programme for Government (PfG); delivering the Executive’s Good Relations strategy: Together: Building a United Community; tackling disadvantage and promoting equality of opportunity; implementing the recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry and the Victims’ Payment Scheme for Permanent Disablement (VPSPD); leading the NICS engagement in the process of implementing outcomes following EU Exit; and driving investment and sustainable development.
More details are available on The Executive Office's website.
Spend displayed here is Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) only. The department also manage some Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - for more details see the spreadsheet download.
Why do the spending areas change over time?
Over the years some spending areas have been amalgamated, split and/or renamed to more correctly reflect all of the areas they currently cover.
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Source: The 2024-25 data is based on provisional outturn data. All previous years are based on final outturn data, as provided by departments to Public Spending Directorate (PSD) in the Department of Finance. Alternative sources are available that show expenditure in Northern Ireland including Office for National Statistics (ONS) and His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT). These are based on different coding frameworks and have different inclusions and exclusions.
Statistics: Total NI Executive spending is presented in billions rounded to 1 decimal place. Spend per person is calculated by dividing the spend in pounds in a year by the mid-year population estimate. It is rounded to the nearest £100. All remaining statistics are presented in millions of pounds rounded to the nearest million. Numbers may not add up due to rounding. Note: A billion is 1,000,000,000 and is the same as 1,000 million.
Contact details: The statistics presented are produced by the Economic and Labour Market Statistics (ELMS) branch in NISRA. Email: economicstats@nisra.gov.uk or Telephone: 028 9052 9475. Additional contact details and more information about the branch can be found on the About ELMS webpage.
Further reading:
