Economy of Belfast

[3] It provided a market for the surrounding countryside and the natural inlet of Belfast Lough gave the city its own port.

In the mid-seventeenth century, Belfast exported beef, butter, hides, tallow and corn and it imported coal, cloth, wine, brandy, paper, timber and tobacco.

[7] The Harland & Wolff shipbuilding firm was created in 1861 and by the time the Titanic was built in Belfast in 1912, they boasted the largest shipyard in the world.

[11][12] By the turn of the century, Kelly's had grown to a workforce of around 10,000, and would continue to create ships to import and export coal, as well as having multiple offices and yards in many towns such as Carrickfergus.

The rise of mass-produced and cotton clothing following World War I were some of the factors which led to the decline of Belfast's international linen trade.

[1] Like many UK cities dependent on traditional heavy industry, Belfast suffered serious decline since the 1960s, exacerbated greatly in the 1970s and 1980s by the civil unrest of The Troubles.

[18] For several decades, Northern Ireland's fragile economy required significant public support from the British exchequer of up to £4 billion per year.

[18] Ongoing sectarian violence made it difficult for Belfast to compete with Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy, with Dublin producing some 70bn Euro GDP annually.

The IRA Ceasefire in 1994 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 gave investors increased confidence to invest in Belfast.

[citation needed] New developments included Victoria Square, the Cathedral Quarter, and the Laganside with the new Odyssey complex and the Waterfront Hall.