Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 1st Quarter 2023

1. Public and Private Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 1)

Public sector employment in Scotland increased by 3,210 (0.5%) between March 2022 and March 2023. This increase in public sector employment is mainly due to an increase in the devolved public sector.

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

Figure 1 provides a summary of total employment in Scotland by public and private sector.

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2023

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2023

Chart 1 shows that the number of people employed in the public sector remained relatively constant between Q1 2014 and Q2 2018, before falling in Q3 2018 and rising again from Q4 2018 onwards. Excluding the effects of major reclassifications^[5] (i.e. taking out the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 5 from the overall numbers), the number of people employed in the public sector gradually reached a peak in Q2 2006, decreased until Q3 2013 and remained relatively constant until Q3 2018. The increase between Q3 2018 and Q4 2018 is mainly due to Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services. Since Q4 2018, the series has typically been increasing over time.

Chart 2 shows the annual change in employment for the public sector. Employment increased by 3,210 (0.5%) between March 2022 and March 2023, driven by increases in the devolved public sector headcount. The devolved public sector headcount has mainly risen due to increases in local government and the devolved Civil Service.

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1, 2023

Impact of Excluding Major Reclassifications from Public Sector

If the major reclassifications⁵ were to be excluded from the public sector series (i.e. the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 5 were taken out of the overall numbers), there would be around 579,000 people employed in the public sector as at March 2023. This would be 21.8% of the total employment in Scotland compared with 22.5% if major reclassifications are included.

Public sector employment, excluding the effects of the major reclassifications, would be around 3,000 (0.5%) higher in March 2023 compared with March 2022 As this increase is similar to the increase when major reclassifications are included (3,210), it shows that the changes over the year are not overly influenced by reclassifications.