Protestants earn slightly more than Catholics in the NI civil service, new statistical study shows

Civil service workers are less well off now on average in the civil service than they were ten years ago

Protestants earn slightly more than Catholics on average in the Northern Ireland Civil Service, a new statistical study has found.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) Statisticians published a report earlier this week, providing an overview of pay statistics for the civil service (NICS).

It found a gap between male and female pay, along with a gap between Protestant and Catholic workers.

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The statistics also show, when compared against the Bank of England’s measure of inflation, workers are less well off now on average in the civil service than they were ten years ago.

The median pay for a civil service worker in Northern Ireland in 2015 was £24,728, according to the NISRA study. In March 2025, the figure had risen to £31,643 – an increase of nearly £7,000. But when inflation is taken into account, it appears workers’ earnings have actually declined over the past decade.

The Bank of England’s inflation calculator, which uses the same Consumer Price Index data that the UK government uses to measure inflation, shows that the median yearly earnings in 2015 of £24,728 is the equivalent of more than £34,000 in today’s money.

In terms of pay differences between genders or community backgrounds, NISRA say the gaps are down to the “staffing profile” of the civil service.

“There continues to be a gap between male and female pay in the NICS – the median pay for females is 2.0% lower than the median pay for males,” a NISRA spokesperson said. “The primary reason for the gender pay gap is because a higher proportion of females are in lower paid grades.”

The NISRA spokesperson continued: “With regard to community background, there is a gap between Protestant and Catholic pay in the NICS. The median pay for Catholic staff is 2.0% lower than the median pay for Protestant staff. Just as for sex, so for community background, differences of this kind can arise from a range of factors including differing proportions of staff in lower paid grades.”

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