This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Council Partner
The capital city of Northern Ireland, and the regional economic driver, Belfast is home to over 11,000 businesses.
Belfast has exceptional potential.
Significant investment in regeneration over the past 20 years has transformed the city, creating an impressive trajectory of development across several sectors from hospitality, business, and education to retail, residential, tourism, and more.
Now, with the delivery of a £1 billion Belfast Region City Deal, the city’s partners are committed to taking the region’s potential to the next level.
Underpinned by infrastructure developments and skills investment to connect people to jobs and services, the deal will strengthen the city’s key growth sectors such as life and health sciences, digital transformation, creative industries, advanced manufacturing, and tourism. Substantial investment in employability and skills will accelerate inclusive economic growth, significantly increase GVA, and create up to 20,000 new jobs across the region as well.
Belfast is a historic city with a young population – 40% are aged 30 or younger. Belfast’s general population of over 348,000 (over one million in the wider Belfast region) is well-connected, with three airports within 90 minutes of the city centre.
Key growth sectors
Digital, ICT and Creative Industries
Belfast is home to the UK’s Innovation and Knowledge Centre for Cyber Security (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast. Additionally, Belfast has a fast-growing creative cluster, with almost 250,000 ft of film and television studio space across three sites. Bolstered by £72m investment in Studio Ulster.
Fintech and Financial Services
Belfast hosts a number of firms in this sector, including global brands like Citigroup and Allstate, alongside home-grown firms such as FinTru and First Derivatives. The city has seen a 13.8% job growth in financial and insurance activities in Belfast over the last 10 years.
Life and Health Sciences
The Belfast Region City Deal funded a £52m Institute of Research Excellence for Advanced Clinical Healthcare (iReach) which will deliver world class clinical reseach to deliver better outcomes for NHS patients.
Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering
Belfast is steeped in a rich manufacturing and engineering heritage, hosting global leaders such as Spirit Aerosystems, Thales and, Harland and Wolff, alongside new innovative firms like Artemis Technologies.
Belfast has an enviable track record in attracting investment.
With a skilled employee pool, world-renowned educational institutions, a dynamic start-up scene and a hard-to-beat quality of life, Belfast is an ideal place people to work, live and visit.
The city’s skyline has changed dramatically in recent years due to significant investments in cultural, hospitality, and transport infrastructure, and public spaces. Since 2015, 2.7m ft2 of Grade A office space, nearly 2000 new hotel rooms, and over 5000 purpose-built student accommodation bedspaces have been developed.
Growing student and workforce populations are fuelling demand for city centre residential accommodation.
The new Ulster University campus in the heart of the city has resulted in significant investment in purpose-built student accommodation, and Belfast City Council is working in collaboration with private and public sector partners to bring more residential opportunities to the market.
Their aim is to attract an additional 66,000 residents and increase the number of homes in the city to 31,600 by 2035, bringing new residents and vitality into the area.
