Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 3rd Quarter 2021

Summary

Key points (based on headcount data) include:

• In September 2021, there were 585,400 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, accounting for 22.2% of total employment^[1].
• In September 2021, employment in the public sector was 15,590 (2.7%) more than in September 2020.
• When major reclassifications are excluded, the public sector increased between September 2020 and September 2021 by around 16,000 (2.8%)^[2].
• Of the total 585,400 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 529,800 (90.5%) were employed in the devolved public sector in September 2021, 14,230 (2.8%) more than in September 2020.
• Between September 2020 and September 2021, employment in the devolved public sector increased in the NHS by 8,730 (5.1%), in the Civil Service by 2,060 (9.6%) and in Local Government by 4,670 (1.8%). Employment in the devolved public sector decreased in Further Education Colleges by -290 (-2.2%), Police and Fire Related Services by -50 (-0.2%), Other Public Bodies by -380 (-2.4%) and in Public Corporations by -520 (-3.8%).
• In September 2021, 55,600 (9.5%) people in the public sector were employed in the reserved public sector in Scotland, 1,360 (2.5%) more than in September 2020.
• Between September 2020 and September 2021, employment within the reserved public sector increased in the Civil Service by 1,180 (4.9%) and in Armed Forces by 300 (3.1%). Employment decreased in Other Public Sector by -120 (-0.6%).

About this publication

Major Reclassifications

An outline of major reclassifications which have taken place in the Scottish public sector since 2013 are outlined here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/about-public-sector-employment-statistics/pages/classifications/

A separate public sector series excluding the effects of these major reclassifications has been included in this publication to show the impact of the reclassifications on the number of people employed in the public sector.

More information is available on the Public Sector Employment Web Section.

National Accounts Classifications

An outline of National Accounts classifications which have taken place in the Scottish public sector since 2015 are outlined here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/about-public-sector-employment-statistics/pages/classifications/

In December 2020, Moredun Research Institute was assessed by the Office for National Statistics as not being subject to public control and therefore reclassified from a central government body to the non-profit institutions serving households sector. The classification applies from January 1994. In line with the Public Sector Employment revision policy, the data for this organisation has been removed from the full series within this publication.

Public Sector Employment Web section

The Public Sector Employment Web section provides additional information to this National Statistics publication:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/public-sector-employment-statistics-web-tables/

It contains detailed information including:

• Local government employment by local authority for the current quarter. A time series of total local government employment from Q1 1999 and by gender from Q1 2011.
• Detailed tables showing a full time series of data - all quarters back to Q1 1999 – are also available to download.
• Background notes outlining the methodology used to compile this series.

UK Comparisons

Public Sector Employment for Government Office Regions and Nations of the UK can be found in the Office for National Statistics Publication.

Comparisons to UK data should be made using non-seasonally adjusted UK data.

See the regional tables at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/public-sector-employment/index.html.

Background Notes

Statistics prior to Q1 2008 are estimates. These have been calculated using the total UK reserved public sector employment figure and applying to Scotland on a pro-rata basis as regional level data has only been collected from Q1 2008 onwards.

Background notes about the information contained in our PSE series are available at the following web section: https://www.gov.scot/publications/about-public-sector-employment-statistics/pages/background-notes/

Devolved and Reserved Civil Service Tables

Tables and commentary on the devolved and reserved civil service are not included in this summary. However, the full time series of data for the devolved and reserved civil service (including September 2021 data), including Scottish Government, Scottish Government Agencies, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal and Non-Ministerial Departments are updated and published in our related web tables publication section (Tables 5 and 6 for headcount figures and tables 12 and 13 for full-time equivalent figures): https://www.gov.scot/publications/public-sector-employment-statistics-web-tables/

Next Publication: March 2022