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Publication - Statistics

Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 2nd Quarter 2024

Published
10 September 2024
Directorate
Chief Economist Directorate
Topic
Economy, Public sector, Work and skills

Statistics based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies carried out by the Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is a snapshot of employment as at June 2024.

Supporting documents

Key points

Summary - based on headcount data:

  • in June 2024, there were 594,700 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, accounting for 22.1% of total employment[1]
  • in June 2024, employment in the public sector was 3,560 (-0.6%) less than in June 2023, mainly due to the reclassification of an organisation from the public to the private sector
  • when major reclassifications are excluded, the public sector increased by around 6,000 (1.0%) between June 2023 and June 2024[2]
  • of the total 594,700 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 547,200 (92.0%) were employed in the devolved public sector in June 2024. This was 5,900 (1.1%) more than in June 2023
  • between June 2023 and June 2024, employment in the devolved public sector increased by:
    • 4,840 (2.7%) in the NHS
    • 590 (2.1%) in the Devolved Civil Service 
    • 580 (2.6%) in Other Public Bodies
    • 550 (0.2%) in Local Government
    • 510 (6.4%) in Public Corporations
  • while employment in the devolved public sector decreased by:
    • 620 (-2.3%) in Police and Fire Related Services
    • 550 (-4.3%) in Further Education Colleges
  • in June 2024, there were 47,500 people employed in the Reserved Public Sector in Scotland. This was 9,460 (-16.6%) less than in June 2023. The Reserved Public Sector accounts for 8.0% of total public sector employment in Scotland   
  • between June 2023 and June 2024, employment within the Reserved Public Sector decreased in Other Public Sector[3] by 9,580 (-44.9%)[4] and by 240 (-2.3%) in the Armed Forces. Employment increased in the Reserved Civil Service by 360 (1.4%)
 

[1] Estimates for total employment and private sector employment are based on the Labour Force Survey, ONS. ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates for July to September 2022 onwards were reweighted in February 2024, causing a step change discontinuity. Therefore, the LFS reweighting exercise creates a break in the series between June 2022 and September 2022 for regional total employment and regional private sector employment. LFS estimates are designated as official statistics in development.

[2] Further details on major reclassifications are provided on page 8 and on the About public sector employment statistics page of the Scottish Government website.

[3] Public corporations, public sector financial institutions and public bodies have been combined into ‘other public sector’ to ensure individual organisation employment figures are not disclosed.  

[4] The NatWest Group plc (including Royal Bank of Scotland plc) was reclassified to the private sector with effect from 1 June 2024, contributing to the decrease in employment in Other Public Sector. The ONS published a media statement and a blog to accompany this re-classification.

Contact

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

Labour Market Statistics,
Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
Telephone: 0131 244 6773,
E-mail: LMStats@gov.scot

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician
E-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

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