Derry MLA urges action as ESRI report shows Northern citizens are poorer and dying younger than southern counterparts

The SDLP Economy Spokesperson was speaking following the publication of a landmark report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), which provides a detailed comparative analysis of the economies North and South.

The report shows people in the North die younger, earn less and suffer longer waits for health procedures than their southern counterparts.

Household disposable income in the South is 18.3 per cent higher than in the North, with the gap continuing to widen; hourly earnings in the South are 36 per cent higher on a purchasing power parity-adjusted basis; and life expectancy, education participation and early years outcomes are all significantly better in the South than in the North.

Ms. McLaughlin said: “This is a damning indictment of the structural inequality on our island. The ESRI has laid it out in stark terms: our people are working for lower wages, living on lower incomes, and dying at younger ages than those just a few miles down the road. That is not only unacceptable, it is morally indefensible.”

The new report, published by the ESRI and commissioned as part of the Institute’s research programme with the Shared Island Unit, Department of the Taoiseach, provides a high-level comparison of the two Irish economies in recent years.

Adele Bergin, an author of the report and an Associate Research Professor at the ESRI, said: “Ireland has experienced stronger economic growth, higher wages, and higher living standards in recent years. The gap in economic performance and well-being indicators between Ireland and Northern Ireland is widening.”

Seamus McGuinness, an author of the report and a Research Professor at the ESRI, said: “The report provides a contemporary analysis of relative economic performance of both economies and allows for differences, in both the levels and evolution of key performance metrics, between Ireland and Northern Ireland to be better understood.”

Ms. McLaughlin said: “The gap between North and South is not a fact of nature. It is the product of political instability, policy failure, and a broken economic model that no longer serves our people.

"The repeated collapse of the Executive has left us with an economy that is the laggard of these islands. That is a political choice, and one with real human cost.

“This report also confirms the long-term economic damage of Brexit. While trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland has grown, our productivity, investment, and educational performance remain stagnant. The fact that nearly a third of our 15–19-year-olds not in education, far above the figure in the South, should be a cause of deep concern to everyone.

“Stormont must start delivering real, measurable change on our economy by investing in skills, dealing with regional imbalances and boosting productivity if we are going to close the gap in living standards and level up opportunity across the island.

“This report will also fuel debate around constitutional change on this island. As people here are forced to look on with envy at a modern, dynamic, European economy thrive in the South, there is little doubt that they will question whether the existing settlement is delivering for our communities.

"The SDLP firmly believes that a new Ireland has the potential to open the doors to opportunity for all the people on this island and give them the future that they deserve.”

The report shows that in 2021, life expectancy for children aged below one in the 26 counties was 82.4 years compared to 80.4 years in the North, a gap of 2 years. As was the case with many other key metrics, the gap in life expectancy has also been widening over recent years.

The authors point out how ‘life expectancy is an important indicator that tends to encapsulate the impacts of multiple well-being determinants across a range of areas including income levels, educational attainment and access to health services’.

Although inpatient and outpatient waiting lists were similar for those waiting between zero and six months for treatment in 2024, the rates for longer durations were much higher North of the border with 86 per 1,000 people on waiting lists for 18+ months, compared to 12 per 1,000 in the South.

The report found widening gaps in all commonly used measures of living standards.

In 2022 Gross National Income [modified GNI – a measure used in stead of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to avoid the distortion caused by US multi-national flows] per capita in the 26 counties was 57 per cent higher than the North’s GDP per capita, reflecting stronger economic growth.

In terms of wages, the data show hourly earnings in the South were 36 per cent higher than in the North in 2022.

The population in the South is growing faster than the North, largely due to strong net migration in recent years which has resulted in a younger population, with a lower old-age dependency rate.

Labour market participation in the 26 counties has increased significantly since 2010, widening the gap with the North, the report finds.

In 2022, the participation rate of those aged 16-64 was 76.8 per cent in the South compared to 72.4 per cent in the North.

Employment rates in the South overtook the North in the period after the financial crisis, reflecting Ireland’s strong recovery, the authors add.

They acknowledged the highly open economy means the labour market south of the border is more volatile and experiences larger swings in unemployment, migration, and NEET (not in employment, education, or training) rates.