Report

Life in the UK 2026 Northern Ireland

This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK measures collective wellbeing in Nothern Ireland in 2026.

This is the latest edition of our annual Life in the UK – Northern Ireland index, now with four years’ worth of data trends, enabling us to take a slightly longer-term view of how people across Northern Ireland are living. Northern Ireland’s collective wellbeing in 2026 is 62; this now represents a significant improvement compared to the headline score we saw in 2024.

The social, economic, and environmental wellbeing scores for Northern Ireland – 74, 68, and 66, respectively – did not record any real changes this year, although Northern Ireland also avoided some of the declines seen across the UK as a whole. Unlike other domains, democratic wellbeing had improved markedly from both 2023 and 2024, though it remained concerningly low. It stood at 39 and was in line with that of other UK jurisdictions for the first time. Fewer people reported low trust in institutions ranging from the UK Government to banks than three years earlier, and trust in the Northern Ireland Executive had largely retained the improvements seen over the previous two years.

However, the polling took place in May, before the summer’s unrest and subsequent political disputes; we can only speculate what impact these events may have had on measures of democratic wellbeing in recent months. However, we would emphasise the need for political and government institutions in Northern Ireland to prioritise work that builds trust with individuals and communities.