County Antrim is NI's charity frontrunner

The report, compiled from the registration details of charities gathered since 2013, to mark three years of compulsory charity registration, provides a never-seen-before snapshot of the charity sector here.

County Antrim appears to be the outlier in terms of registered charities. County Down is home to 21% of charities, and 29% of the population. Figures for Armagh, Londonderry, Fermanagh and Tyrone showed that charity registrations were roughly proportionate to the populations of each.

It’s believed that Belfast, where 24% of registered charities are located, is the main reason for County Antrim’s leading role, also highlighting that 76% of charities in NI are located outside of Belfast.

County Antrim is home to the most charities - despite having only 34% of the population, it is home 44% of charities 45% of NI-registered charities work in their local area only. Only eight per cent work internationally.

Commission Chief Executive Frances McCandless said: “Charity registration has enabled us to put together this previously unseen picture of charities in Northern Ireland, revealing the extent to which charities operate here, their income, their governance, and their focus.”