The Department for the Economy and its arm’s-length bodies have spent more than £4 million on social media ads and subscriptions over the past five years.
The latest figures show that the total spend on social media advertising was £4.3 million during the time period.
The statistics show that Tourism NI also spent a substantial amount on social media ads over the same period.
The body, which operates eight social media accounts, spent at least £1.9 million on the advertising, although it is understood that the total figure tops this as only partial data is available for 2022.
Meanwhile, Invest NI spent £1.67 million in total on social media ads since 2020.
The body also spent over £9,000 on subscriptions to the social media platform X in 2023 and 2024.
The Consumer Council of Northern Ireland’s social media ad spend was £52,542 over the past five years, according to the figures.
Meanwhile, the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland’s social media ad spend rose totalled at £66,141.
Social media spend between 2020 and 2025
The figures for the Department for the Economy itself were also significant, according to the response given to an Assembly Question by DUP MLA Diane Dodds.
Across the five-year timeframe, the Department for the Economy itself spent a total of £307,731 on advertising across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X, and Linkedin.
Of the remaining arm’s-length bodies, the north’s regional colleges including Belfast Met spent a total of £317,730 on social media advertising.
In a statement to the Irish News, UUP MLA Diana Armstrong said that while social media plays a vital role in promoting investment and tourism, bodies must always ensure that money is spent widely and effectively.
“When it comes to public spending, accountability is key, and advertising carried out by departments and arm’s-length bodies is no exception,” she added.
“We must always be mindful that this is public money. It should be spent wisely and effectively.”
A spokesperson for the Department for the Economy said: “The overall spend represents the total spend on social media channel subscriptions and advertisements by the Department for the Economy and 14 of its arm’s-length bodies over the last five years.
“Social media advertising is an effective means of communicating on a range of key economic activities including tourism campaigns, skills initiatives, business support programmes, Health and Safety campaigns, Further Education learning opportunities and consumer information.
“All spend on social media is carefully managed to ensure value for money and alignment with key business objectives.”