The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) is investigating figures it published recently, which show a sharp drop in income and expenditure for the country’s charities.
According to CCNI’s data, published last month, income and expenditure more than halved in 2024-25, which it has now labelled an “unexplained drop”.
Income in 2023-24 was about £2.7bn for the full financial year, while expenditure was approximately £2.6bn.
This fell in 2024-25 to about £1.1bn and just under £1bn, respectively, according to the chart in the Charity Register 2025 Report.
The report, which contains data from 7,258 charities registered on 31 July this year, has now prompted CCNI, Northern Ireland’s charity sector regulator, to investigate the recorded decline.
CCNI launched a survey, which was sent out via email to 167 charities, to get direct feedback on their experiences. The survey closes on 3 December.
Ann Breslin, CCNI’s policy development manager, said: “We know trustees, staff and volunteers are already under significant strain.
“However, your input is vital to help us understand the challenges facing the sector and to inform future support.”
Since 2020-21, income and expenditure for registered charities in Northern Ireland have been at around £2bn or above, CCNI data shows.
The 2024-25 drop would be the lowest in income and expenditure since the earliest data set in 2016, when about £1.3bn in both categories was recorded.
Post-EU replacement funding concerns
The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA), the nation’s voluntary and community sector umbrella body, declined to comment on CCNI’s investigation of the sector’s apparent income decline in 2024-25.
However, NICVA has expressed concerns in recent months over a lack of clarity on long-term UK government funding.
From March 2026, a “local growth fund” is expected to take over from the current UK Shared Prosperity Fund, according to UK chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spring statement.
The Shared Prosperity Fund, set up post-Brexit, allocated Northern Ireland £104m “to invest in domestic priorities and target funding where it is needed most”, but it is soon coming to an end.
NICVA stated that charities in Northern Ireland do not know how its replacement will be rolled out and labelled the uncertainty around it a “real concern”.
The Northern Ireland charity sector already lost the European Social Fund, finance from the European Union that went towards improving workforce skills and tackling unemployment, which was withdrawn on 21 October last year.
