Electorate Statistics for Northern Ireland
- Electorate Statistics by Electoral Ward 2025
- Electorate Statistics by Electoral Ward 2024
- Electorate Statistics by Electoral Ward 2016 - 2023
Electorate Statistics in relation to 2021 Canvass
The last registration Canvass of electors in Northern Ireland was held in Summer 2021. Northern Ireland Canvass law requires all electors to register or re-register to vote at each Canvass. This is because the law requires the Electoral Register to be "wiped clean" after the Canvass is started.(2)
Northern Ireland Canvass law allows the Chief Electoral Officer to retain electors on the Electoral Register for a short period if there was no Canvass response. However, retention can only be done if administrative data supports the elector's continued registration. More details of the retention or carry forward process are given in the Electoral Commission report on the 2021 Canvass(1). In 2021 this amounted to 114,000 carried forward electors.
The UK Parliament passed The Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 which amended the carry forward process. The amended law allows carry forward electors from the 2021 Canvass to be further retained on the Electoral Register until 2027. However in the period to 2027, the amended law also requires a regular review of all carry forward electors. More details on this review will be published by the Electoral Office in due course.
(1) Details - 2025 review
updated 23 October 2025
By January 2025 the number of carry forward electors from the 2021 Canvass was 87,000. More detailed statistics are available at Electors Carried Forward from 2021 Canvass (Jan 2025).
During 2025 attempts will be made to contact these carried forward electors and ask them to register to vote with a targeted approach as outlined in the Regulations. This will also include the removal of some carried forward electors where administrative data no longer supports the elector's continued registration. An overall updated position will be published on this web-page in January 2026.
(1) The Canvass was reviewed in the Electoral Commission review of Northern Ireland electoral registration canvass 2021.
(2) More details are included in a letter from the Chief Electoral Officer to Secretary of State on the need for a Canvass (April 2024).