South Antrim
- Party
- UUP
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland still follows EU rules for goods, so its businesses can sell goods into the EU single market without customs checks. Rejoining the EU would give Northern Ireland a say in making those rules.
The cost of Brexit · UK-wide
Brexit's estimated hit to UK economic output (GVA) in 2023
−£188.8bn
−7.7% of output
That's about £2,835 for every person in the UK, compared with an estimate of where the economy would have been without Brexit.
Source: Brexit Cost Project (Alabrese, Edenhofer, Fetzer and Wang, 2026), real terms at 2019 prices
What rejoining could mean · UK-wide
Long-term boost to the UK economy (GDP) from EU membership
+£92bn
at least
Plus at least £43bn a year more in UK exports.
What rejoining could mean here
Estimated boost to the Northern Ireland economy (GVA) each year from EU membership
+£158m
a year
Source: Frontier Economics
YouGov's polling only covers England, Scotland and Wales.
Which sectors could benefit most from EU membership?
South Antrim has:
people employed in manufacturing, mining and utilities
people employed in retail and wholesale
people employed in accommodation and food services
as its biggest employing industry
Why these jobs matter for our relationship with Europe
These three industries employ people in every constituency, and each depends on how easily goods, services and people move between the UK and Europe.
Manufacturing: Frontier Economics found that 81% of the £43 billion a year growth in exports from EU membership would come from manufacturing.
Retail: Rejoining the EU would remove the customs checks and paperwork that have added red tape and costs for shops and their suppliers since Brexit, making it cheaper and simpler to stock goods from Europe.
Food services: Pubs, restaurants and hotels have struggled to fill vacancies since free movement ended. EU membership would let them recruit seasonal workers from across Europe again and help bring down costs for hospitality businesses across the country.
Sources and methodology
- GVA gap caused by Brexit: Brexit Cost Project
- GVA boost for Northern Ireland: Frontier Economics for Best for Britain
- People employed by industry in Northern Ireland: Census 2021, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
- Postcode lookup: postcodes.io, using ONS data
- MP details and photos: UK Parliament Members API
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Contains NRS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.