Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for third quarter 2020

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 2020.


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

Headcount Full-time equivalent
Total Public Sector Devolved Public Sector2 Reserved Public Sector3 Total Public Sector Devolved Public Sector2 Reserved Public Sector3
Q3 1999 546,500 471,800 74,700 457,700 386,500 71,200
Q3 2014 560,500 502,500 58,000 480,200 426,000 54,200
Q3 2015 560,200 503,000 57,200 479,800 426,100 53,600
Q3 2016 558,100 501,100 57,000 478,200 424,700 53,500
Q3 2017 558,100 501,800 56,300 479,300 426,400 52,900
Q3 2018 543,600 488,400 55,200 466,100 414,200 51,900
Q3 2019 560,100 503,100 57,000 480,100 426,400 53,600
Q3 2020 570,000 515,700 54,300 489,900 438,700 51,200
Change on year to:
Q3 2020 9,860 12,590 -2,720 9,790 12,260 -2,470
% change on year:
Q3 2020 1.8% 2.5% -4.8% 2.0% 2.9% -4.6%

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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