Editing Belfast (section)

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Belfast}}

[[File:Harlandandwolffcranes.JPG|thumb|[[Samson and Goliath (cranes)|Samson and Goliath]], Harland & Wolff's gantry cranes]]

=== Employment profile ===
Services (including retail, health, professional & scientific) account for three quarters of jobs in the Belfast. Only 6% remain in manufacturing. The balance is in distribution and construction.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/BRES-2021-Publication_1.pdf |title=Business Register and Employment Survey 2021 |publisher=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |year=2021 }}</ref> In recent years, unemployment has been comparatively low (under 3% in the summer of 2023) for the UK. On the other hand, Belfast has a high rate of people economically inactive (close to 30%).<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 September 2023 |title=Labour market statistics |url=https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/news/labour-market-statistics-56 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=Economy |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213203340/https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/news/labour-market-statistics-56 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is a group, encompassing homemakers, full-time carers, students and retirees,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Duncan |first1=Pamela |last2=Sheehy |first2=Finbarr |last3=Scruton |first3=Paul |last4=Cutler |first4=Sam |date=2 May 2021 |title=Life in Northern Ireland v the rest of the UK: what does the data say? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/02/life-in-northern-ireland-v-the-rest-of-the-uk-what-does-the-data-say |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 }}</ref> that in Belfast has been swollen by the exceptionally large proportion of the population (27%) with [[Disability in Northern Ireland|long-term health problems or disabilities]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-main-statistics-for-northern-ireland-phase-2-statistical-bulletin-health-disability-and-unpaid-care.pdf |title=Census 2021: Main statistics for Northern Ireland Statistical bulletin, Health, disability and unpaid care |date=15 December 2022 |publisher=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |pages=21 }}</ref> (and who, in Northern Ireland generally, are less likely to be employed than in other UK regions).<ref>{{Cite book |last= |url=https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1275811/Disability-and-the-labour-market.pdf |title=Maximising potential: A review of labour market outcomes for people with disabilities in Northern Ireland |publisher=Ulster University Economic Policy Centre |year=2023 |pages=18 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |access-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213203339/https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1275811/Disability-and-the-labour-market.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

An early report on the post-Belfast Agreement prospects for the city economy underscored another distinctive feature of its working-age population. While it appeared well qualified, with 24 per cent educated to degree level, at "the other end of the educational spectrum", 26 per cent had no qualifications at all, a much higher share than in English cities.<ref name=":26" />{{rp|251}}

=== Shipbuilding, aerospace and defence ===
Of Belfast's Victorian-era industry, little remains. The last working linen factory—Copeland Linens Limited, based in the Shankill area—closed in 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 January 2013 |title=Copeland Linens, Belfast's last working linen factory closes |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-21192216 |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=BBC News }}</ref> In recent years [[Harland & Wolff]], which at peak production in the Second World War had employed around 35,000 people, has had a workforce of no more than two or three hundred refurbishing oil rigs and fabricating off-shore wind turbines. A £1.6 billion [[Royal Navy]] contract has offered the yard a new lease, returning it to shipbuilding in 2025,<ref name=":3" />{{rp|261–262}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=£100 million boost as naval shipbuilding confirms return to Belfast |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-boost-as-naval-shipbuilding-confirms-return-to-belfast |access-date=23 January 2024 |website=GOV.UK |archive-date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123203452/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-million-boost-as-naval-shipbuilding-confirms-return-to-belfast |url-status=live }}</ref> a prospect secured by the purchase of insolvent yard by Spain's state-owned shipbuilder, [[Navantia]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2025 |title=Harland and Wolff: Spanish firm Navantia completes takeover |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx24593xe8no |access-date=10 February 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=11 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211194759/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx24593xe8no |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1936, Short & Harland Ltd, a joint venture of [[Short Brothers]] and Harland & Wolff, began the manufacture of aircraft in the docks area. In 1989, the British government, which had nationalised the company during the Second World War, sold it to the Canadian aerospace company [[Bombardier Inc.|Bombardier]]. In 2020, it was sold on to the American aerostructure company [[Spirit AeroSystems]].<ref name="spirt-completes">{{cite news |last=McAleer |first=Ryan |date=29 November 2020 |title=Short Brothers' new US owner reports £136m operating loss for third quarter |url=https://www.irishnews.com/business/2020/11/04/news/short-brothers-new-us-owner-reports-136m-operating-loss-for-third-quarter-2118573/ |access-date=29 November 2020 |work=The Irish News |location=Belfast |archive-date=4 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104080024/https://www.irishnews.com/business/2020/11/04/news/short-brothers-new-us-owner-reports-136m-operating-loss-for-third-quarter-2118573/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Producing aircraft components, it remains the largest manufacturing concern in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nics.gov.uk/irtu/research/engineering-4.html |title=Shorts as a "Centre of Excellence" within Bombardier, 2007 |access-date=25 January 2024 |archive-date=24 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924102225/http://www.nics.gov.uk/irtu/research/engineering-4.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Originating in the [[Short Brothers]]' missile division, since 2001 the [[Thales Group]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomson-CSF changes name to Thales |url=https://www.aerospaceonline.com/doc/thomson-csf-changes-name-to-thales-0001 |access-date=3 May 2021 |website=aerospaceonline.com |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319090040/https://www.aerospaceonline.com/doc/thomson-csf-changes-name-to-thales-0001 |url-status=live }}</ref> (owned by the French defense contractor [[Thales Air Defence]] Limited)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our UK locations |url=http://www.thalesgroup.com/en/countries/europe/united-kingdom/about-thales-uk/our-uk-locations |access-date=3 May 2021 |website=Thales Group |archive-date=5 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505205250/https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/countries/europe/united-kingdom/about-thales-uk/our-uk-locations |url-status=live }}</ref> has been producing [[short range air defence]] and [[Anti-tank guided missile|anti-tank]] [[missile]]s<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2019 |title=Economic Impact of Thales in Northern Ireland |url=http://www.thalesgroup.com/sites/default/files/database/document/2019-09/Thales_Belfast_Report%20final.pdf |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=thalesgroup.com |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502144401/http://www.thalesgroup.com/sites/default/files/database/document/2019-09/Thales_Belfast_Report%20final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> including the [[NLAW]] shoulder-launched system<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 December 2022 |title=Belfast weapons factory receives contract to produce anti-tank missiles |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-weapons-factory-receives-contract-to-produce-anti-tank-missiles/42235861.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213142755/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-weapons-factory-receives-contract-to-produce-anti-tank-missiles/42235861.html |archive-date=13 February 2024 |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> and, from 2025, lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-02 |title=Belfast: Thales missile factory to supply 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74knzk9x8zo |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> deployed against the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion]] by [[Ukraine]]..

=== Fintech and cybersecurity ===
From the 1990s, Belfast established itself as a significant location for call centres and for other back-office services.<ref name="The Times">{{cite web |title=Northern Ireland – Overview |url=http://www.bcglocations.com/uk/northernireland/northernireland_intro.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20061104103706/http://www.bcglocations.com/uk/northernireland/northernireland_intro.html |archive-date=4 November 2006 |access-date=12 August 2010 |website=The Times |publisher=Bcglocations.com }}</ref> Attracting U.S. operators such as [[Citigroup|Citi]], [[Allstate]], [[Liberty Mutual]], [[Aflac]] and [[Kx Systems|FD Technologies (Kx Systems)]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Financial and professional services {{!}} Invest in Belfast |url=https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/investinbelfast/key-sectors/financial-and-professional-services |access-date=15 February 2024 |website=Belfast City Council |archive-date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215120959/https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/investinbelfast/key-sectors/financial-and-professional-services |url-status=live }}</ref> it as since been identified by the [[HM Treasury|UK Treasury]] as "key [[fintech]] [financial technology] hub".<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Dea |first=Blathnaid |date=5 December 2022 |title=Up there with the best: Belfast's reputation as a fintech hiring hub |url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/belfast-fintech-hiring-hub |access-date=15 February 2024 |website=Silicon Republic |archive-date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215121000/https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/belfast-fintech-hiring-hub |url-status=live }}</ref> Fintech's key areas (its "ABCD") are [[artificial intelligence]], [[blockchain]], [[cloud computing]], and [[big data]].<ref name="LaiLiao2020">{{cite journal |last1=Lai |first1=T. L. |last2=Liao |first2=S.-W. |last3=Wong |first3=S. P. S. |last4=Xu |first4=H. |date=2020 |title=Statistical models and stochastic optimization in financial technology and investment science |url=https://tzelai.ckirby.su.domains/pubs/2020_AMSA_05_02_A05.pdf |journal=Annals of Mathematical Sciences and Applications |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=317–345 |doi=10.4310/AMSA.2020.v5.n2.a5 |issn=2380-288X |s2cid=240302839 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |access-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709180952/https://tzelai.ckirby.su.domains/pubs/2020_AMSA_05_02_A05.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The sector's principal constraint, cyber security, has been addressed since 2004 by the Queens University Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (IECIT), and its [[Centre for Secure Information Technologies]] (CSIT).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 2019 |title=News {{!}} ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES UK UNIVERSITY TO JOIN CYBER TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH NETWORK {{!}} ECIT {{!}} Queen's University Belfast |url=http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/ECIT/News/ROLLS-ROYCEANNOUNCESUKUNIVERSITYTOJOINCYBERTECHNOLOGYRESEARCHNETWORK.html |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=qub.ac.uk }}</ref> The IECIT is the anchor tenant at [[Catalyst (science park)]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catalyst : Titanic Quarter Belfast |url=https://titanicquarter.com/work/office/catalyst/ |access-date=13 February 2024 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213142756/https://titanicquarter.com/work/office/catalyst/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in the Titanic Quarter, which hosts a cluster of companies seeking to offer innovative cyber-security solutions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 2019 |title=About us {{!}} ECIT {{!}} Queen's University Belfast |url=http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/ECIT/Aboutus/index.html |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=qub.ac.uk }}</ref>

=== Film ===
Between 2018 and 2023, film and television production based largely in Belfast, and occupying significant new studio capacity in the ports area, contributed £330m to Northern Ireland's economy.<ref name="Belvins2024">{{Cite web |last=Belvins |first=David |date=5 January 2024 |title=£100m studio makes Belfast global hub for virtual production |url=https://news.sky.com/story/100m-studio-makes-belfast-global-hub-for-virtual-production-13022657 |access-date=15 February 2024 |website=Sky News |archive-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214005147/https://news.sky.com/story/100m-studio-makes-belfast-global-hub-for-virtual-production-13022657 |url-status=live }}</ref> There are two 8-acre media complexes (serviced by the adjacent [[George Best Belfast City Airport|City Airport]]): the Titanic Studios on Queen's Island (the [[Titanic Quarter]]) and across the Victoria Channel in [[Giant's Park]] on the Lough's north foreshore, the Belfast Harbour Studios.<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |title=Belfast Harbour Studios |url=https://www.belfast-harbour.co.uk/real-estate/belfast-harbour-studios/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=Belfast Harbour |archive-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214165157/https://www.belfast-harbour.co.uk/real-estate/belfast-harbour-studios/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Together they offer 226,000&nbsp;ft<sup>2</sup> of studio space, plus offices and workshops,<ref name="Film & Television Studios">{{Cite web |title=Film & Television Studios |url=https://northernirelandscreen.co.uk/filming/studios/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=Northern Ireland Screen |archive-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214005138/https://northernirelandscreen.co.uk/filming/studios/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and have attracted U.S. production companies such as [[Amazon Prime Video|Amazon]], [[HBO]] (including all eight series of its fantasy drama ''[[Game of Thrones]]''), [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]], [[Universal Pictures|Playtone]], [[Universal Pictures|Universal]], and [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros]].<ref name=":15"/><ref name=":19" />

At the beginning of 2024, [[Ulster University]], in partnership with [[Belfast Harbour]] and supported by [[Northern Ireland Screen]], announced an £72m investment to add to the complex a new virtual production, research and development, facility, Studio Ulster.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Studio Ulster |url=https://www.studioulster.com/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=studioulster.com |archive-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214005140/https://www.studioulster.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Belvins2024"/> Additional studio space is available at Loop Studios (formerly Britvic) on the Castlereagh Road in East Belfast.<ref name="Film & Television Studios" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Loop Studios – 468-472 Castlereagh Rd, Belfast |url=https://loopstudios.info/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=loopstudios.info |archive-date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214005141/https://loopstudios.info/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Tourism and hospitality ===
Northern Ireland's [[peace dividend]] since the 1990s, which includes a marked increase in [[inward investment]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Durkan "hopeful" For Future of Good Friday Agreement |url=http://archive.nics.gov.uk/dfp/010209f-dfp.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012210212/http://archive.nics.gov.uk/dfp/010209f-dfp.htm |archive-date=12 October 2007 |access-date=17 September 2007 |publisher=Department of Finance and Personnel }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 13 February 2002 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020213/text/20213w02.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118232203/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020213/text/20213w02.htm |archive-date=18 January 2008 |access-date=17 September 2007 |publisher=House of Commons }}</ref> has contributed to a large-scale redevelopment of the city centre. Significant projects included [[Victoria Square, Belfast|Victoria Square]], the [[Cathedral Quarter, Belfast|Cathedral Quarter]], [[Laganside]] with the [[Odyssey (Belfast)|Odyssey]] complex and the landmark [[Waterfront Hall]], the new [[Titanic Quarter, Belfast|Titanic Quarter]] with its [[Titanic Belfast|''Titanic'' Belfast]] visitor attraction, and the development of the original Short's harbour airfield as [[George Best Belfast City Airport]].
These developments reflect a boom in tourism (32 million visitors between 2011 and 2018),<ref name=":3" />{{rp|179}} and related hotel construction. This has included an entirely new phenomenon for Belfast: in 1999, the port received its first cruise ship.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 October 2021 |title=Milestone for Belfast as 1,000th cruise ship arrives since 1996 |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/milestone-for-belfast-as-1000th-cruise-ship-arrives-since-1996-3411447 |website=News Letter |access-date=13 February 2024 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213142754/https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/milestone-for-belfast-as-1000th-cruise-ship-arrives-since-1996-3411447 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, Belfast welcomed 153 calls, 8% up from the pre-[[COVID-19 pandemic|pandemic]] record set in 2019. Ship from 32 different countries landed 320,000 passengers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 October 2023 |title=Arrival of 'Borealis' caps record season for cruise ship visits in Belfast |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/arrival-of-borealis-caps-record-season-for-cruise-ship-visits-in-belfast/a1443070018.html |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125203041/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/arrival-of-borealis-caps-record-season-for-cruise-ship-visits-in-belfast/a1443070018.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Belfast has also seen growth of "conflict tourism".<ref name=":3" />{{rp|186–191}} To the dismay of some, "tourists take photos of the division lines that are not consigned to history, but are a part of living Belfast: children play football against the walls that tourists flock to. The places and the people themselves have become a spectacle, an attraction."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Chris |date=7 May 2012 |title=Belfast's immoral 'conflict tourism' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/07/belfast-immoral-conflict-tourism |access-date=13 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 }}</ref> Tourist bosses and guides, however, are satisfied that the greater draw is city's other "must-see attractions",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Planet |first=Lonely |title=Must-see attractions Belfast, Northern Ireland |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/northern-ireland/belfast/attractions |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=Lonely Planet |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213142754/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/northern-ireland/belfast/attractions |url-status=live }}</ref> and its "convivial food and nightlife scene".<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 October 2022 |title=The ultimate Belfast guide |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/northern-ireland/belfast-city-guide-best-hotels-restaurants-b2197054.html |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=The Independent |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213142754/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/northern-ireland/belfast-city-guide-best-hotels-restaurants-b2197054.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== EU/GB Trade ===
[[Invest Northern Ireland|Invest NI]], Northern Ireland's economic development agency is pitching Belfast and its hinterland to foreign investors as "only region in the world able to trade goods freely with both [[Great Britain|GB]] and EU markets".<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2023 |title=Northern Ireland's Unique GB and EU Market Access Position |url=https://www.investni.com/international-business/northern-irelands-unique-gb-and-eu-market-access-position |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=Invest Northern Ireland |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125012330/https://www.investni.com/international-business/northern-irelands-unique-gb-and-eu-market-access-position |url-status=live }}</ref> This follows the 2020 [[Northern Ireland Protocol]] and the 2023 [[Windsor Framework]], agreements between the British government and [[European Union]], whereby, post-Brexit, Northern Ireland would effectively remain within the [[European single market|European Single Market]] for goods while, in principle, retaining unfettered access to the British domestic market. Despite the DUP's derailment of devolved government in protest, local business leaders largely welcomed the new trade regime, hailing the promise of dual EU-GB access as a critical opportunity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 March 2023 |title=Business leaders' Windsor Framework letter to Rishi Sunak is 'welcome intervention' |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/03/12/news/business_leaders_windsor_framework_letter_to_rishi_sunak_is_welcome_intervention_-3127023/ |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=The Irish News |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125012328/https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/03/12/news/business_leaders_windsor_framework_letter_to_rishi_sunak_is_welcome_intervention_-3127023/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=31 March 2023 |title='The Windsor Framework gives business the chance to renew the NI economy and doesn't threaten union' |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/ulsterbusiness/features/the-windsor-framework-gives-business-the-chance-to-renew-the-ni-economy-and-doesnt-threaten-union/1002543936.html |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125012328/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/ulsterbusiness/features/the-windsor-framework-gives-business-the-chance-to-renew-the-ni-economy-and-doesnt-threaten-union/1002543936.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In February 2024, the DUP consented to a return of the devolved Assembly and Executive on the understanding that neither the EU nor the British government would defend the integrity of their respective internal markets by conducting ''routine'' checks on the bulk of goods passing through Belfast, or other Northern Ireland, ports.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 February 2024 |title=Government deal with the DUP to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/government-deal-dup-restore-power-sharing-northern-ireland |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Institute for Government |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203024240/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/government-deal-dup-restore-power-sharing-northern-ireland |url-status=live }}</ref>