The total rose by £9m in 2014 to £81m.
The sum represents just over 1% of the entire benefits expenditure at Stormont's Department of Social Development (DSD) of £5.7bn.
It relates to payments like housing benefit and employment and support allowance.
The figure is contained in Tuesday's report by the Audit Office on the annual accounts of government departments and other public sector bodies.
Kieran Donnelly, the auditor general, said the "vast majority of (audit) opinions were clean".
However, the DSD's books were among 18 sets of accounts which were "qualified", partly due to the benefits fraud and error.
Under the Fresh Start political deal agreed at Stormont last week, there will be £125m for the Social Security Agency, under the DSD, to tackle fraud and error.
The assumption is that the investment will allow the agency to detect up to £300m of additional fraud and error over the next five years.
Stormont will be allowed to keep half of that money.
Benefit payments due to fraud and error in Northern Ireland have increased to their highest level since 2007, according to an Audit Office report.