NI Productivity 2040: Addressing Northern Ireland’s productivity gap for greater prosperity

Northern Ireland persistently lags the UK’s productivity level. This is despite Northern Ireland’s devolved government, the NI Executive, having key policy levers that can drive productivity growth. While there are several explanations for Northern Ireland’s low productivity, the role of policy and institutions is central to why the productivity gap persists. Past policy interventions have a poor track record of reducing this productivity gap. This failure has been linked to policies being implemented in isolation, with siloed policymaking creating a barrier to more effective action. This report addresses this problem, by identifying the key productivity drivers where Northern Ireland lags other parts of the UK, the relationships between these drivers, and how each of these links to the NI Executive departments and delivery partners. This provides a roadmap for how policy can address Northern Ireland’s productivity challenge by 2040 for greater prosperity.