Salary guide · October 2026
Sales and marketing pay in Northern Ireland
The median full-time salary in Northern Ireland was £37,052 in 2025, against £39,039 for the UK (ASHE, April 2025).
Sales accounts and business development managers in Northern Ireland had a median full-time salary of £53,561 in 2025. The UK median was £57,625.
Marketing, sales and advertising directors in Northern Ireland had a published median of £82,163, against £94,135 across the UK. The NI figure rests on a small sample.
Full-time jobs based in Belfast had a median of £40,588 in 2025. That is about 9.5% above the median for all of Northern Ireland, across all types of job.
The official NI figure for marketing executives (marketing associate professionals) is suppressed as unreliable. MRKTSEARCH sees these roles start at a minimum of £26,000.
In the Republic of Ireland, median annual earnings were €46,305 in 2025, across all employments that lasted at least 50 weeks (CSO).
Median full-time salary by occupation: Northern Ireland vs UK, 2025
Median gross annual pay for full-time employees in the same job for at least a year, tax year to 5 April 2025. Gross pay includes bonus and commission paid in the year. Occupations use SOC 2020 codes. NISRA suppresses estimates with a coefficient of variation (CV) above 20%. UK figures are provisional. The gap column is our own calculation from the two medians. *NISRA's 2025 figure for marketing and commercial managers rests on too few responses to be reliable. In our searches, marketing managers in Northern Ireland start at £40,000.
| Occupation | SOC 2020 code | NI median | NI estimate quality | UK median | NI vs UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All full-time employees | n/a | £37,052 | Precise (CV 1.8%) | £39,039 | 5.1% lower |
| Marketing, sales and advertising directors | 1132 | £82,163 | Published, no quality score given. Small sample. Use with caution | £94,135 | 12.7% lower |
| Marketing and commercial managers | 2432 | Not shown* | Sample too small | £53,703 | n/a |
| Sales accounts and business development managers | 3556 | £53,561 | Acceptable (CV 16.8%) | £57,625 | 7.1% lower |
| Business sales executives | 3552 | £38,011 | Published, no quality score given. Use with caution | £37,924 | About the same |
| Marketing associate professionals (includes marketing executives) | 3554 | Suppressed (unreliable) | Not published: CV above 20% | £33,412 | No NI figure |
| Sales, marketing and related associate professionals (whole group) | 355 | £38,819 | Acceptable (CV 11%) | £45,000 | 13.7% lower |
How widely pay varies within each role: UK full-time salaries, 2025
Percentiles of gross annual pay for full-time employees across the UK. The 10th percentile is the level below which 10% of jobs fall. NI percentiles for these occupations are suppressed as unreliable, so UK figures are shown. 'Not published' means ONS did not release the figure.
| Occupation | SOC 2020 code | 10th percentile | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing, sales and advertising directors | 1132 | £45,852 | £65,527 | £94,135 | £134,962 | Not published |
| Marketing and commercial managers | 2432 | £31,996 | £39,645 | £53,703 | £69,510 | Not published |
| Sales accounts and business development managers | 3556 | £32,651 | £43,049 | £57,625 | £79,598 | £106,958 |
| Business sales executives | 3552 | £25,377 | £30,244 | £37,924 | £52,105 | Not published |
| Marketing associate professionals | 3554 | £24,033 | £27,373 | £33,412 | £41,521 | Not published |
Source: ONS, ASHE 2025 provisional, Table 14.7a Annual pay - Gross (full-time)
Median full-time salary by council area (place of work), Northern Ireland, 2025
All occupations, not just sales and marketing. Based on where the job is, not where the person lives. Gaps between areas partly reflect the mix of jobs in each area. NISRA does not publish a 'rest of NI excluding Belfast' figure. CV is the coefficient of variation: 5% or less is precise, 5% to 10% is reasonably precise, 10% to 20% is acceptable.
| Council area | Median gross annual pay | CV |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland (all) | £37,052 | 1.8% |
| Belfast | £40,588 | 3.4% |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | £38,253 | 5% |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | £37,256 | 5.3% |
| Fermanagh and Omagh | £36,825 | 7.6% |
| Derry City and Strabane | £36,358 | 4.9% |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | £35,654 | 6.5% |
| Mid Ulster | £33,768 | 5.8% |
| Newry, Mourne and Down | £33,462 | 11% |
| Mid and East Antrim | £33,127 | 6.4% |
| Causeway Coast and Glens | £31,968 | 6.3% |
| Ards and North Down | £31,167 | 7.4% |
Republic of Ireland: median annual earnings by sector, 2025
Euro. Covers all employments active for at least 50 weeks in 2025, full-time and part-time, from Revenue payroll data. Not directly comparable with the UK ASHE full-time figures, and not converted to sterling. The CSO does not publish annual earnings by detailed occupation, so no sales or marketing role figure exists for Ireland in these releases. On a weekly basis, median earnings in Dublin (€848.06) were 11.7% above the State median (€759.21), by place of residence.
| Sector | Median annual earnings | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| All employments | €46,305 | 3.3% |
| Private sector | €41,469 | 3.2% |
| Information and communication | €83,329 | 4.0% |
| Financial, insurance and real estate | €62,031 | 5.1% |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | €52,260 | 1.0% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | €34,004 | 3.3% |
Source: CSO, Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2025, Table 7.3 (published 6 October 2026)
What we see in the market
A Marketing Executive role in Northern Ireland starts at a minimum of £26,000.
A Marketing Manager role in Northern Ireland pays at least £40,000.
Sales pay varies a great deal from one role to the next. Commission and on-target earnings (OTE) plans are the main reason.
Pay outside Belfast is only slightly lower than in Belfast for the sales and marketing roles we recruit.
In our experience, NI employers are not losing candidates to remote roles based in Great Britain or Dublin.
In-house marketing roles pay more than the same level of role in an agency.
From MRKTSEARCH searches across Northern Ireland.
Common questions
What is the average marketing manager salary in Northern Ireland?
In MRKTSEARCH's experience, a marketing manager in Northern Ireland earns at least £40,000. NISRA's official figure for this group is based on a very small sample and mixes in commercial managers, so we don't rely on it. The UK median for marketing and commercial managers was £53,703 in 2025.
How much does a business development manager earn in Northern Ireland?
Sales accounts and business development managers (SOC 3556) in Northern Ireland had a median full-time salary of £53,561 in 2025. NISRA rates this estimate as acceptable. The UK median was £57,625. Across the UK, the bottom 10% earned under £32,651 and the top 10% earned over £106,958, which shows how much commission and bonus can move sales pay.
What does a sales or marketing director earn in Northern Ireland?
Marketing, sales and advertising directors (SOC 1132) in Northern Ireland had a published median of £82,163 in 2025. The sample is small and NISRA gives no quality score, so use it as a rough guide. The UK median was £94,135.
What is a marketing executive salary in Northern Ireland?
NISRA suppresses the 2025 figure for marketing associate professionals (SOC 3554) in Northern Ireland because the estimate is unreliable. The UK median was £33,412, with the 25th percentile at £27,373. MRKTSEARCH sees Marketing Executive roles in Northern Ireland start at a minimum of £26,000.
What is the average salary in Northern Ireland, and is Belfast higher?
The median full-time salary in Northern Ireland was £37,052 in 2025 (the UK median was £39,039). Jobs based in Belfast had a median of £40,588, the highest of the 11 council areas. Ards and North Down had the lowest at £31,167. These figures cover all jobs. For the sales and marketing roles MRKTSEARCH recruits, pay outside Belfast is only slightly lower.
How do Northern Ireland salaries compare with the Republic of Ireland?
There is no like-for-like official comparison for sales and marketing roles. The CSO does not publish annual pay by detailed occupation. Its 2025 median annual earnings figure for all employments in Ireland was €46,305, including part-time work, and €52,260 in professional, scientific and technical activities. In MRKTSEARCH's experience, NI employers are not losing candidates to remote Dublin or GB roles.
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Sources
- NISRA, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025, landing page
- NISRA, Employee earnings in NI 2025, news release (23 October 2025)
- NISRA, ASHE 2025 tables by industry, occupation, age, sector and skill level (Table 15, 4-digit SOC 2020)
- NISRA, ASHE 2025 tables by NI geography, place of work and residence (Table 7)
- ONS, ASHE Table 14, occupation by 4-digit SOC, 2025 provisional
- CSO, Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2025, Annual Earnings (6 October 2026)
- CSO, Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2025, Earnings by County (6 October 2026)