Tesco spends £5.5bn on Northern Irish food and drink

Tesco has contributed £5.7 billion to the Northern Ireland economy over the past two decades.

Overall, the company said it had spent £5.5bn on food and drink made in Northern Ireland over the period and made capital investments of £650m building new stores and upgrading existing stores.

The retailer, which is marking 20 years since it first set up in the north, said that figure was "conservative".

The company employs 9,600 locally as well as supporting almost 6,000 other jobs along the supply chain.

It has produced an economic report which claims that for every £100 Tesco spends in the north, a further £90 is added through supply chain and employee spending.

The supermarket arrived at the £5.7 billion figure after adding the £3 billion it has spent directly to other spin-off benefits.

Tesco said it had generated at least £1.5bn in wages over the period while it spent £650m building new stores and upgrading existing shops.

The supermarket chain set up its first outlet in the north when it opened a Tesco Metro on Royal Avenue, Belfast in 1996.

It now has 54 stores across the north ranging from small convenience outlets to massive 24-hour shopping destinations.

And as its estate has grown, so too has spending on local produce.

It spent £50 million on locally-produced goods in its first year but the annual figure is now ten-times that amount.

It has 1,200 local product lines on its shelves produced by 90 suppliers and 6,000 farmers.