Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for first quarter 2021

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 March 2021.


Table 2: Public sector employment by devolved and reserved sector; Scotland, Headcount and Full-time equivalent1

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Quarter Headcount Full-time equivalent
Total Public Sector Devolved Public Sector2 Reserved Public Sector3 Total Public Sector Devolved Public Sector2 Reserved Public Sector3
Q1 1999 545,600 471,200 74,400 455,300 384,100 71,200
Q1 2015 561,900 505,500 56,400 479,800 427,200 52,700
Q1 2016 562,200 504,100 58,100 480,700 426,300 54,500
Q1 2017 559,000 503,000 56,100 478,000 425,300 52,700
Q1 2018 559,900 504,000 56,000 479,900 427,300 52,600
Q1 2019 555,000 500,000 55,000 473,800 421,900 51,800
Q1 2020 562,600 508,700 53,900 480,500 429,800 50,700
Q1 2021 579,400 524,600 54,900 498,400 446,600 51,800
Change on year to:
Q1 2021 16,810 15,840 970 17,880 16,770 1,100
% change on year:
Q1 2021 3.0% 3.1% 1.8% 3.7% 3.9% 2.2%

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Change on year rounded to the nearest ten. Percentages are based on unrounded figures.

Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Devolved Public Sector consists of the following staff groups: Civil Service, Other Public Bodies, NHS, Further Education Colleges, Local Government and

Public Corporations (as shown in Table 3).

3. Reserved Public Sector consists of the following staff groups: Civil Service, Armed Forces, Other Public Sector (as shown in Table 4)

Contact

Email: LMStats@gov.scot

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