The economy of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

was initially built on trade through

Belfast Harbour Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...

. Later, industry contributed to its growth, particularly shipbuilding and linen. At the beginning of the 20th century Belfast was both the largest producer of linen in the world and also boasted the world's largest shipyard.

Civil unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, civil strife, or turmoil, are situations when law enforcement and security forces struggle to maintain public order or tranquility. Causes Any number of things may cause civil di ...

impacted the city's industry for many years, but with the republican and

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

ceasefires of the mid-1990s,

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

and the

St Andrews Agreement The St Andrews Agreement (; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's political parties in relation to the de ...

in 2006, the city's economy has seen some resurgence once again.

History of the economy

When the population of Belfast town began to grow in the 17th century, its economy was built on commerce. It provided a market for the surrounding countryside and the natural inlet of

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough () is a large sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to the Irish ...

gave the city its own

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

. The port supplied an avenue for trade with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and later Europe and North America. In the mid-seventeenth century, Belfast exported beef, butter, hides, tallow and corn and it imported coal, cloth, wine, brandy, paper, timber and tobacco. Around this time, the

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

trade in Northern Ireland blossomed and by the middle of the eighteenth century, one fifth of all the linen exported from Ireland was shipped from Belfast. The present city however is a product of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. It was not until industry transformed the linen and shipbuilding trades that the economy and the population boomed. By the turn of the nineteenth century, Belfast had transformed into the largest linen producing centre in the world, earning the city and its hinterlands the nickname "Linenopolis" during the Victorian Era and into the early part of the 20th century. 100,000 people in the city, mainly women, were employed in its linen trade by the 1900s and 1910s, although shipbuilding had overtaken it to become the dominant industry since the 1870s. Belfast harbour was dredged in 1845 to provide deeper berths for larger ships. Donegall Quay was built out into the river as the harbour was developed further and trade flourished. The

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

firm was created in 1861 and by the time the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' was built in Belfast in 1912, they boasted the largest shipyard in the world. The economic importance of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

cannot be overstated in Belfast in the early 1900s. Coal was imported into Belfast and the other major ports. It was then distributed throughout Ulster by rail and lorry. Belfast harbour contained several coal companies, the big three were Cawoods Coal, Hugh Craig & Co. and John Kelly Limited. Samuel Kelly set up a grocer and coal commissions company in the 1840s. When Samuel died, his son, John Kelly took over and expanded the fleet. By the turn of the century, Kelly's had grown to a workforce of around 10,000, and would continue to create ships to import and export coal, as well as having multiple offices and yards in many towns such as

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

. John Kelly died in 1904, this is when his son, Sir Samuel Kelly would become owner, and make the business into a limited company, under John Kelly Limited. Kelly was knighted for his contributions to the economy, as his fleet reached its biggest size of 44 steam coasters in 1937, the year in which Sir Samuel Kelly passed away. John Kelly Limited would be passed to his wife, Lady Kelly, as Capt. William Clint would becoming managing director. As coal began to be phased out, Kelly's opted in to the oil industry, and changed to Kelly's Fuels, in which it still operates today. The rise of

mass-produced Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

and cotton clothing following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

were some of the factors which led to the decline of Belfast's international linen trade. Like many UK cities dependent on traditional heavy industry, Belfast suffered serious decline since the 1960s, exacerbated greatly in the 1970s and 1980s by the civil unrest of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. More than 100,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since the 1970s. For several decades, Northern Ireland's fragile economy required significant public support from the British exchequer of up to £4 billion per year. Ongoing sectarian violence made it difficult for Belfast to compete with Ireland's

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

economy, with Dublin producing some 70bn Euro GDP annually.

Economic development and regeneration initiatives

In recent years, Belfast has embarked on several significant projects to stimulate economic growth and urban regeneration. * Belfast Harbour Investment: In 2025,

announced a £90 million investment to upgrade its port facilities to support offshore wind energy projects and accommodate cruise ships. This initiative was part of a broader £300 million plan that includes constructing hundreds of homes near the city center. The development aims to position

as a hub for renewable energy and boost the local economy through increased tourism and housing. * The Belfast Agenda 2024–2028: The

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...

updated its strategic plan, focusing on sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Key objectives include increasing the number of homes by 6,000 units, building 400 social homes annually, and reducing the working-age economic inactivity rate from 23% to 18%. * Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund (NRF): The NRF supports community-led capital projects across

, aiming to enhance neighbourhood tourism,

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, and the social economy. Projects funded include the restoration of historic buildings and the development of community hubs, contributing to the city's broader regeneration efforts. * City Centre Living and Regeneration:

aims to increase its population by 66,000 and add 31,600 homes by 2035. The appointment of GRAHAM as a delivery partner for a £630 million housing-led regeneration programme marks a significant step towards achieving these goals. The initiative focuses on developing sustainable, mixed-use communities in the city center. * Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD): Signed in December 2021, the BRCD is a collaborative investment of over £850 million from central government and regional partners. It aims to create 20,000 new jobs and includes funding for tourism and regeneration projects, such as The Gobbins Phase 2 and the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ), also called the Mournes or the Mountains of Mourne, are a predominantly granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountain in all of Ulster, Slieve Donard ...

Gateway Project, enhancing Belfast's appeal as a tourist destination and stimulating economic growth.

History of the economy

Economic development and regeneration initiatives

See also

References

Further reading