Poverty Policy
The Poverty Policy team (Central Policy Division) has responsibility for developing, co-ordinating and driving the Executive’s priorities for tackling poverty.
Poverty in Northern Ireland
The most recent statistics were published in The Northern Ireland Poverty and Income Inequality Report 2024/25 on 26 March 2026 for the period April 2024 to March 2025.
At that time around 232,000 (12%) people in Northern Ireland lived in relative income poverty and absolute poverty (before housing costs).
- people are considered to be living in relative income poverty if the income of their household is less than 60% of the UK median household income.
- people are considered to be in absolute income poverty if the income of their household is less than 60% of the UK median household income for 2024/25 (adjusted year on year for inflation).
Poverty and Income Inequality statistics in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom (UK) are now using an updated methodology which replaces survey responses relating to major state benefits and tax credits, with administrative data. The new methodology applies to the most recent year 2024/25, and revised estimates have also been produced for 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Further changes are due to be implemented on FRS data in future years, including replacing survey reported earnings with administrative data, and updating the way the statistics are scaled to population totals (known as grossing). While these developments represent essential modernisation, the scale and ongoing nature of the changes introduce uncertainty, and this transition will last for a number of years. In light of this, poverty statistics should be interpreted with extra caution, particularly for long term comparisons.
Further information on the statistics can be found within the Family Resources Survey.
Poverty Strategy
Anti-Poverty Strategy
There is a statutory obligation in section 28E of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 for the Executive to “adopt strategy setting out how it proposes to tackle poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need”.
In line with New Decade New Approach, the Department is developing an Anti-Poverty Strategy which will contain effective and sustainable solutions to tackle poverty in all its forms for our communities right across Northern Ireland. The Strategy will aim to address poverty and the impacts of socio-economic disadvantage and set out the NI Executive’s commitment to a joined-up, long-term approach to addressing poverty.
The Executive Committee agreed a draft Anti-Poverty Strategy at its Executive meeting on 15 May 2025 and approval was given for the strategy to progress towards public consultation. The online public consultation launched on 17 June 2025 and closed on 19 September 2025. This public consultation provided an opportunity for all areas of society to comment on the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy and highlight any areas they felt could be strengthened further. Following the completion of the Anti-Poverty Strategy Public Consultation, DfC officials analysed and considered all responses received and produced a report titled ‘The Anti-Poverty Strategy Summary of Public Consultation’ which can be viewed below.
While the Department for Communities is leading on the Anti-Poverty Strategy, it remains an Executive Strategy and final decisions on the content and implementation of the Anti-Poverty Strategy will be subject to Executive agreement.
Statistics and research
Poverty statistics and research published by the Department can be found at the links below.
- Report from the Anti-Poverty Strategy Expert Advisory Panel
- Social Metrics Commission – 2024 report
- Universal Credit Statistics