Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 3rd Quarter 2024
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 September 2024.
Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount
The devolved public sector includes:
- Devolved Civil Service
- Local Government, covering Scottish Local Authorities, Police and Fire Services (up to Q1 2013), Valuation Joint Boards and Regional Transport Partnerships
- Police and Fire Services (Q2 2013 onwards)
- NHS in Scotland
- Further Education Colleges
- Devolved Public Corporations
- Other Devolved Public Bodies (which covers Non-Departmental Bodies and other bodies).
Employment in the devolved public sector was 546,300 in September 2024. This is 3,740 (0.7%) higher than in September 2023. This increase is largely due to an increase in NHS employment of 3,440 (1.9%).
Figure 5: Local Government and NHS employ the largest number of people in the Devolved Public Sector
Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland as at September 2024
Note: Totals may not equal the sum of the individual parts due to rounding
Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2024
The increase over the year in the devolved public sector headcount was due to the following changes (changes are given from September 2023 to September 2024):
- employment in NHS increased by 3,440 (1.9%) to 187,300[1]
- employment in Devolved Civil Service increased by 690 (2.5%) to 28,600
- employment in Other Public Bodies increased by 600 (2.7%) to 23,100
- employment in Public Corporations increased by 420 (5.1%) to 9,000
while:
- employment in Local Government decreased by 890 (-0.3%) to 259,000
- employment in Police and Fire Related Services decreased by 480 (-1.7%) to 27,200
- employment in Further Education Colleges decreased by 30 (-0.2%) to 12,100
Figure 6: Public Corporations had the largest percentage increase over the year across the Devolved Public Sector
Change in Devolved Public Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland from September 2023 to September 2024
Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2024
[1] NHS employment statistics for the number of staff directly employed by NHS Scotland (headcount) were published by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) on 3 December 2024, with data relating to 30 September 2024 in their NHS Scotland official workforce statistics publication
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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