Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for first quarter 2019

Summary infographic: Overview of Public Sector Employment in Scotland as at March 2019, Headcount

• In March 2019, there were 555,800 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 1.0% less than in March 2018.
• In March 2019, there were 2,119,900 people employed in the private sector in Scotland, 1.8% more than in March 2018.
• Over the year, both the devolved public sector and reserved public sector headcount decreased.
• 501,000 were employed in the devolved public sector in March 2019, 0.9% less than in March 2018.
• Local Government and NHS employ the most employees in the devolved public sector.
• In March 2019, in the devolved public sector, there were 252,000 people employed in Local Government, 164,100 employed in NHS, 27,900 employed in Police and Fire, 18,700 employed in Civil Service, 15,900 employed in Other Public Bodies, 14,100 employed in Further Education and 8,000 employed in Public Corporations.
• Between March 2018 and March 2019, employment in the devolved public sector decreased in Public Corporations by 63.8% and increased in Further Education Colleges by 0.9%, the NHS by 0.6%, Other Public Bodies by 1.6%, Civil Service by 7.5%, Police and Fire Related Services by 1.4% and Local Government by 2.9%.
• The large decrease (63.8%) in devolved public corporations is mainly due to Registered Social Landlords being reclassified to the private sector in Q3 2018. This explains the majority of the 1.0% decrease in total public sector employment headcount.
• 54,800 people in the public sector were employed in the reserved public sector in Scotland in March 2019, 2.1% less than in March 2018.
• Civil Service employ the most employees in the reserved public sector.
• In March 2019, in the reserved public sector, there were 24,400 people employed in Civil Service, 10,100 employed in Public Corporations and Public Sector Financial, 10,600 employed in Public Bodies and 9,700 employed in Armed Forces.
• Between March 2018 and March 2019, employment within the reserved public sector decreased in Public Corporations & Public Sector Financial Institutions by 8.8% and in the Civil Service by 2.6% and increased in Public Bodies by 4.5%. Armed Forces was unchanged.