Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 1st Quarter 2012

1. Total employment and public and private sector employment in Scotland; Headcount (Table 1)

This section provides a summary of total employment in Scotland and the breakdown of public and private sector employment.

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

In quarter 1 (Q1) 2012, there were 584,800 people employed in the public sector in Scotland. Total public sector employment has decreased by 27,600 (4.5%) since Q1 2011 but increased by 39,700 (7.3%) since Q1 1999.

In the last year total employment has decreased from 2,472,000 in Q1 2011 to 2,453,000 in Q1 2012, an decrease of 19,000 (0.8%). There were 1,868,200 people employed in the private sector in Scotland, an increase from 1,859,600 in Q1 2011 and an increase from 1,683,200 in Q1 1999.

Total public sector employment accounts for 23.8% of total employment in Scotland. This is down from 24.8% in Q1 2011 and down from 24.5% in Q1 1999. (In 1999 the banking sector was not included in the public sector).

Chart 1: Total Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Headcount,1999-Q1 2012

Chart 2: Annual change in employment by main sector, Headcount

Impact of excluding Public Sector Financial Institutions

If we exclude public sector financial institutions¹ from the series, there would be 552,300 people employed in the public sector, representing 22.5% of total employment in Scotland.

Excluding these banking groups, public sector employment would have decreased by 25,500 (4.4%), instead of 27,600 (4.5%), over the year and public sector employment would have increased by 7,200 (1.3%) since Q1 1999 instead of 39,700 (7.3%).