Around 7,000 workers in retail have lost their jobs in Northern Ireland in the last five years, according to an industry which delivers £180 billion a year in sales UK-wide.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that 139,000 people currently work in the retail sector locally.
But that’s down from more than 146,000 in 2019.
And Neil Johnston, director of the NI Retail Consortium (NIRC), said: “Given the context that there are record numbers employed overall in Northern Ireland, it begs the question: why is the retail environment so challenging?”
“The number of employed people in Northern Ireland overall is up 9,000 in the past year, but in retail in the past year numbers have flatlined. Retail is extremely challenging at present, shopping trends are changing, footfall is continuing to fall, and sales are at best flat. Profit margins are notoriously small.”
“Recent years have seen additional supply chain and statutory costs imposed on all employers including retailers but the environment in retail has been so challenging this has led to this marked decline in staff numbers.”
He added: “Retailing remains a significant employer, providing work for one in six people in Northern Ireland, with many more in the supply chain. It is also an important part of the local economy.
“But proposed increases in employers’ national insurance and expensive regulations for tackling waste seem certain to guarantee that life will remain tough for retailers in 2025.”
In the UK as a whole, retail has shed 225,000 jobs in five years.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium, said: “The current fall to 2.81 million jobs in retail in September is partially explained by ongoing transformation in the industry, from increased investment in automation and higher productivity, to a shift to outsourcing of warehousing and logistics that are not all captured by the ONS retail figures.
“Meanwhile, costs of hiring have risen significantly in recent years. Pay growth in the industry was well above the national average at 8.5% in 2024, and up over 25% since 2021.
“The October Budget increases the national living wage by a further 6.7%, adding over £2.7bn to retailer wage bills from April 2025, while changes to rate and threshold for employer national insurance contributions will cost the industry over £2.3bn.
“It is inevitable the Budget will also put pressure on jobs and hours in the coming year, potentially affecting communities all over the UK that rely on retail as a vital provider of entry level, local jobs.”
