UK trade body ADS has published a study of the Northern Ireland aerospace, defence and security industry.
The survey findings for 2010 reveal that Northern Ireland contributed 7.1% of the total UK aerospace output. Total sales amounted to £960 million.
Civil aerospace accounted for 85% of sales (£774 million) and defence 14% (£128 million), with security at 1% (£11 million).
More than 90% of revenues (£860 million) came from exports, with £664 million exported outside the UK.
Exports from aerospace, defence and security represented 12.8% of all manufacturing exports. Around £640 million of orders were reported for the future.
According to the survey, research and development investment stands at £34 million a year - 10.5% of all Northern Ireland's business R&D expenditure. The sectors employed 7,541 people - 90% in aerospace, 9.5% in defence and 0.5% in security.
"The future is also bright for Northern Ireland in this regard because, despite the forthcoming impact of defence cuts in the UK and many of our export markets, we expect the civil aerospace sector to continue to grow. This is especially good news for Northern Ireland given the major involvement that we have in the new Bombardier CSeries passenger aircraft programme in particular," said David Beatty, chairman of ADS Northern Ireland.
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Source: Flight Daily News
