Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 1st Quarter 2024

Public and Private Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

Public sector employment in Scotland increased by 7,050 (1.2%) between March 2023 and March 2024. This increase in public sector employment is mainly due to an increase in the devolved public sector.

The public sector is defined according to the UK National Accounts Classifications Guide

Figure 1: Public sector employment in Scotland has increased over the year and accounts for over one fifth of total employment

Public and Private[1] Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland as at March 2024

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2024

Figure 2:  Public Sector employment in Scotland has been gradually increasing since 2018

Public Sector employment and estimated public sector employment (excluding major reclassifications) in Scotland, June 1999 to March 2024, non-seasonally adjusted

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2024

Figure 2 shows that the number of people employed in the public sector remained relatively constant between Q1 2014 and Q2 2018, before falling in Q3 2018 and rising again from Q4 2018 onwards. Excluding the effects of major reclassifications[2] (i.e. taking out the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 2 from the overall numbers), the number of people employed in the public sector gradually reached a peak in Q2 2006, decreased until Q3 2013 and remained relatively constant until Q3 2018. The increase between Q3 2018 and Q4 2018 is mainly due to Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services. Since Q4 2018, the series has typically been increasing over time. In Q3 2018, Social Security Scotland was added to the public sector series and has grown in size over time partly contributing to the increase.

Figure 3 shows the annual change in employment for the public sector. Employment increased by 7,050 (1.2%) between March 2023 and March 2024. The increase is mostly due to an increase in NHS employment in the Devolved Public Sector.

Figure 3: Public Sector employment in Scotland increased over the year

Annual change in Public Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1, 2024

Impact of Excluding Major Reclassifications from Public Sector

If the major reclassifications[2] were to be excluded from the public sector series (i.e. the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 2 were taken out of the overall numbers), there would be around 586,000 people employed in the public sector as at March 2024.

Public sector employment, excluding the effects of the major reclassifications, would be around 7,000 (1.1%) higher in March 2024 compared with March 2023. The increase when major reclassifications are included is slightly higher (7,050), showing that reclassifications are playing a small role in the increase over the year.