What share of Northern Ireland food businesses have a 5-star hygiene rating?

83.5% of the 15,401 rated food businesses in Northern Ireland hold the top 5-star Food Standards Agency hygiene rating (12,859 premises), with a regional average of 4.77 out of 5. That places Northern Ireland 3 of 11 UK regions by 5-star share, as of 2026-06-12.

Which council in Northern Ireland has the best food hygiene ratings?

Among Northern Ireland local authorities with rated food businesses, Mid and East Antrim has the highest share of 5-star premises at 92.7% (1,011 rated), while Belfast City has the lowest at 72.3%. A lower share usually reflects a council's business mix and density rather than unsafe food.

Where does this Northern Ireland food hygiene data come from?

Every figure on this page is from the Food Standards Agency's public Food Hygiene Rating Scheme register (ratings.food.gov.uk), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, aggregated by GeraEats across 11 Northern Ireland local authorities as of 2026-06-12. No number is estimated or modelled.

Northern Ireland Food Hygiene Ratings 2026 — Real FSA Data | GeraEats

The headline

83.5% of Northern Ireland food businesses are 5-star.

Across 11 Northern Ireland councils, 15,401 food businesses are rated; 83.5% are 5-star and 0.4% (60 premises) score 0 or 1 star — the FSA's two lowest marks. Nationally, 483,819 food businesses are rated across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within Northern Ireland, Mid and East Antrim leads on 5-star share (92.7%) and Belfast City trails (72.3%).

Northern Ireland rating distribution

How the 15,401 rated Northern Ireland food businesses split across the FSA's six rating bands.

Rating	Premises	Share
5★	12,859	83.5%
4★	1,784	11.6%
3★	576	3.7%
2★	122	0.8%
1★	60	0.4%
0★	0	0%

Northern Ireland councils ranked

Every Northern Ireland local authority, ranked by the share of food businesses holding the top 5-star FSA rating. Tap a council to open its full GeraEats hygiene directory.

#	Council	5★ share	Avg	0–1★	Rated
1	Mid and East Antrim · takeaways	92.7%	4.9	4(0.4%)	1,011
2	Lisburn and Castlereagh City · takeaways	91.7%	4.9	4(0.4%)	911
3	Newry, Mourne and Down · takeaways	89.4%	4.84	21(1.3%)	1,574
4	Mid Ulster · takeaways	88.7%	4.85	15(1.2%)	1,268
5	Causeway Coast and Glens · takeaways	88.5%	4.83	17(1.3%)	1,333
6	Antrim and Newtownabbey · takeaways	86.4%	4.82	4(0.4%)	985
7	Fermanagh and Omagh · takeaways	85.2%	4.78	17(1.3%)	1,319
8	Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon · takeaways	83.3%	4.78	14(0.8%)	1,726
9	Ards and North Down · takeaways	82.2%	4.77	9(0.8%)	1,145
10	Derry City and Strabane · takeaways	75.3%	4.69	5(0.4%)	1,214
11	Belfast City · takeaways	72.3%	4.59	72(2.5%)	2,915

Compare regions and dig deeper

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Food hygiene ratings are sourced from the Food Standards Agency at ratings.food.gov.uk. Ratings reflect the most recent inspection on record and may have changed since publication.