Aerospace trade group ADS has today released a report that shows a sizeable boost for the economy originating from the aerospace sector.
With The Paris Air Show on the horizon, the news that the aerospace, defence and security sector has contributed 7,500 high-value jobs to Northern Ireland and businesses in the region comes as a welcome relief in a time of financial crisis. A|D|S said in its report that the sector has generated £1bn to the region’s economy.
The report also showed that Northern Ireland contributes 7.1% of the total UK aerospace output, that total sales from Northern Ireland amounted to £960m, and that civil aerospace accounted for 85 % of sales (£774m), defence 14% (£128m) with security at only 1% (£11m).
Exports from aerospace, defence and security represent 12.8% of all Northern Ireland manufacturing exports. R&D investment is at £34m per year, making up 10.5% of all Northern Ireland’s business R&D expenditure. The sectors employ 7,541 people in Northern Ireland, 90% are in aerospace, 9.5% in defence and 0.5% in security. Of the total workforce, 4% are apprentices. Each employee contributes £127,246 per year in revenue output.
David Beatty, Chairman of A|D|S Northern Ireland, said: “The aerospace, defence and security sectors are proud of the major economic benefit that they bring to Northern Ireland. For the first time we can now quantify the scale of the [aerospace sector’s] contribution. Last year over 7,500 people in the sectors delivered almost £1 billion to the economy.”
“The future is also bright for Northern Ireland in this regard because, despite the forthcoming impact of defence cuts in the UK and many of our export markets, we expect the civil aerospace sector to continue to grow,” he added.
Arlene Foster MLA, Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in the Northern Ireland Assembly commented: “The findings of this survey clearly demonstrate the importance of the aerospace, defence and security sectors to the Northern Ireland economy. The companies involved, from inward investors to locally owned businesses, provide highly innovative and cost effective solutions to global markets, whilst reinforcing this region’s reputation for technological expertise and excellence.”
George Archer
