Our Region

Welcome to the Mid South West. Our collective economy – a collaboration between Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon; Fermanagh and Omagh and Mid Ulster – acts as the backbone of Northern Ireland’s economy, exporting its products and services to the far corners of the world.

Our region has significant strengths in manufacturing, engineering, agri-food, life and health sciences, tourism, construction’ and many more sectors where an innovative, collaborative nature means we are considered leaders in a competitive global market. From dynamic indigenous companies to blue chip inward investors to boundary-breaking startups, our economy plays host to a rich ecosystem.

Mid South West’s geographical position plays a significant part in its success, stretching along the border corridor where it enjoys a unique natural co-dependency with the Republic of Ireland in trade and investment, tourism and labour.

The region itself makes up half of Northern Ireland’s landmass and is home to a quarter of the province’s population and a quarter of its business. Mid South West provides 214,000 workplace jobs, 90% of which are taken up by local people, and generates one fifth of Northern Ireland’s entire GVA.

Our region is fortunate to have many strengths, however there are a number of challenges that need to be addressed if we are to supercharge the growth of our economy.

Those challenges include: productivity levels which are lower than the wider Northern Ireland region, need to attract new workers to provide more and better-paid jobs, as well as migration issues and a weaker outlook for population growth. There is also a substantial infrastructure deficit which ranks high as a key area that requires investment to deliver much-needed connectivity improvements and further economic growth.

As the Mid South Region we are committed to addressing these challenges and are resolute in our ambition to supercharge the growth of our collective economy and ensure inclusive prosperity.

Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council