NI growth in GDP per capita beat London and Scotland in 2016

The number of millionaires living in Northern Ireland slumped last year to 13,000 people but overall prosperity levels jumped thanks to a big increase in average earnings, latest research shows.

The latest UK Prosperity Map, by banking group Barclays, highlights that GDP per capita in the North rose 11.3 per cent to £17,948 during 2016.

The increase ranks Northern Ireland ahead of London, where GDP increased by 8 per cent last year, and Scotland, where GDP increased by 9.8 per cent, and Wales, which also saw an improvement of 9.7 per cent.

Northern Ireland last year finished up as the fifth most prosperous part of the UK, according to Barclays.

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According to the banking group, one of the chief factors behind the North’s prosperity jump was a 9 per cent increase in average earnings during 2016, which brought the average wage up to £23,643.

House prices

The banking group also reported that house prices grew faster than many other regions in the UK, with an average improvement of 4 per cent – bringing the price tag for a home up to £119,500.

But although the prosperity indicators suggested that the majority of people enjoyed an improved outlook last year in the North, that was not the case for some of its better-off residents.

The total number of local millionaires fell by 7.1 per cent from 14,000 to 13,000, mirroring a UK-wide trend during 2016, where the overall number of millionaires in the UK also dropped.

According to the Barclays UK Prosperity Map, about 690,000 people in the UK are still worth, at the very minimum, seven figures – that works out at one in every 67 people being a millionaire.