Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 3rd Quarter 2022
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 2022.
Tables
| Quarter [Note 7] |
revisions |
Total Employment Level [note 6] |
Private Sector [Note 2] |
Public Sector |
Estimated Private Sector (including major reclassifications) Level [note 3][note 4] |
Estimated Public Sector (excluding major reclassifications) Level [note 3][note 5] |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Level |
Level |
Percentage of total employment |
Level |
Percentage of total employment |
Level |
Percentage of total employment |
Level |
Percentage of total employment |
| Q3 1999 |
2,293,000 |
1,746,200 |
76.2% |
546,400 |
23.8% |
1,765,000 |
77.0% |
528,000 |
23.0% |
|
| Q3 2016 |
r |
2,600,000 |
2,042,800 |
78.6% |
557,300 |
21.4% |
2,071,000 |
79.7% |
529,000 |
20.3% |
| Q3 2017 |
r |
2,666,000 |
2,108,300 |
79.1% |
557,300 |
20.9% |
2,136,000 |
80.1% |
529,000 |
19.9% |
| Q3 2018 |
r |
2,662,000 |
2,119,200 |
79.6% |
542,800 |
20.4% |
2,132,000 |
80.1% |
530,000 |
19.9% |
| Q3 2019 |
r |
2,616,000 |
2,056,900 |
78.6% |
559,300 |
21.4% |
2,073,000 |
79.2% |
544,000 |
20.8% |
| Q3 2020 |
r |
2,650,000 |
2,080,800 |
78.5% |
569,200 |
21.5% |
2,100,000 |
79.2% |
551,000 |
20.8% |
| Q3 2021 |
r |
2,649,000 |
2,064,200 |
77.9% |
584,400 |
22.1% |
2,083,000 |
78.6% |
566,000 |
21.4% |
| Q3 2022 |
2,710,000 |
2,116,800 |
78.1% |
593,400 |
21.9% |
2,135,000 |
78.8% |
575,000 |
21.2% |
|
| Change on year to Q3 2022 |
61,650 |
52,600 |
0.2 p.p. |
9,040 |
-0.2 p.p. |
53,000 |
0.2 p.p. |
9,000 |
-0.2 p.p. |
|
| % change on year Q3 2022 |
2.3% |
2.5% |
1.5% |
2.5% |
1.6% |
|||||
p.p. - percentage points, r- revision
Notes:
1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, unless otherwise stated. Change on year rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.
2. Private sector is derived as the difference between the Labour Force Survey 'Total employment' workforce based estimate for the whole of Scotland (not seasonally adjusted) and the public sector estimate (derived from individual organisation statistical returns).
3. Major reclassifications include: Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Northern Rock plc, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, Lloyds Bank Asset Finance, Scottish Widows, Direct Line, Royal Mail Group plc, Post Office Ltd (until Q2 2006), Network Rail, Registered Social Landlords and Train Operating Companies.
4. Private sector including major reclassifications includes the figures for the above organisations in the private sector series when they were part of the public sector and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
5. Public sector excluding major reclassifications excludes the figures for the above organisations from the public sector series when they were part of the public sector and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
6. Total employment figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and are taken from Labour Force Survey (LFS).
7. There have been revisions to this data, in particular to the private Sector figures due to revisions made in the ONS Labour Force Survey in June 2022 and also changes to the public sector values due to revisions in the data for two Councils among other small changes
| Quarter | Headcount | Full-time equivalent | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
revisions [note 4] |
Total Public Sector |
Devolved Public Sector [note 2] |
Reserved Public Sector [note 3] |
Total Public Sector |
Devolved Public Sector [note 2] |
Reserved Public Sector [note 3] |
| Q3 1999 |
546,400 |
471,600 |
74,700 |
457,600 |
386,300 |
71,200 |
|
| Q3 2016 |
r |
557,300 |
500,300 |
57,000 |
478,100 |
424,600 |
53,500 |
| Q3 2017 |
r |
557,300 |
501,000 |
56,300 |
479,200 |
426,300 |
52,900 |
| Q3 2018 |
r |
542,800 |
487,600 |
55,200 |
466,100 |
414,100 |
51,900 |
| Q3 2019 |
r |
559,300 |
502,200 |
57,000 |
479,700 |
426,000 |
53,600 |
| Q3 2020 |
r |
569,200 |
514,900 |
54,200 |
489,700 |
438,600 |
51,100 |
| Q3 2021 |
r |
584,400 |
528,800 |
55,600 |
504,500 |
451,900 |
52,700 |
| Q3 2022 |
593,400 |
537,700 |
55,700 |
512,700 |
459,800 |
52,900 |
|
| Change on year to Q3 2022 |
9,040 |
8,910 |
130 |
8,220 |
7,950 |
280 |
|
| % change on year Q3 2022 |
1.5% |
1.7% |
0.2% |
1.6% |
1.8% |
0.5% |
|
r - revision
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)
4. There have been revisions to this data, in particularly for Dumfries and Galloway Council from Q1 2016 and for Fife Council from Q2 2021, changing the headcounts for the Total Devolved Public Sector and the Total Public Sector columns
| Quarter |
revisions [note 5] |
Total Devolved Public Sector |
NHS |
Civil Service |
Police and Fire Services [note 2] |
Further Education Colleges [note 3] |
Other Public Bodies [note 3] |
Local Government [note 2] |
Public Corporations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 1999 |
471,600 |
129,700 |
14,600 |
- |
15,700 |
8,400 |
294,000 |
9,000 |
|
| Q3 2016 |
r |
500,300 |
161,800 |
16,800 |
28,100 |
14,000 |
15,500 |
241,000 |
23,000 |
| Q3 2017 |
r |
501,000 |
162,700 |
17,200 |
27,700 |
13,500 |
15,500 |
241,000 |
23,000 |
| Q3 2018 |
r |
487,600 |
162,900 |
17,800 |
27,600 |
13,800 |
16,100 |
241,000 |
8,000 |
| Q3 2019 |
r |
502,200 |
164,800 |
20,300 |
28,100 |
13,900 |
16,000 |
251,000 |
9,000 |
| Q3 2020 |
r |
514,900 |
170,600 |
21,400 |
28,300 |
13,500 |
15,700 |
252,000 |
14,000 |
| Q3 2021 |
r |
528,800 |
179,300 |
23,500 |
28,200 |
13,200 |
15,300 |
256,000 |
13,000 |
| Q3 2022 |
537,700 |
180,300 |
27,200 |
27,600 |
13,000 |
15,600 |
260,000 |
14,000 |
|
| Change on year to Q3 2022 |
8,910 |
1,010 |
3,710 |
-640 |
-140 |
290 |
4,320 |
360 |
|
| % change on year Q3 2022 |
1.7% |
0.6% |
15.8% |
-2.3% |
-1.1% |
1.9% |
1.7% |
2.8% |
|
r - revision
Notes:
1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, with the exception of local government and public corporation figures which are rounded to the nearest thousand; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.
2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland.
3. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.
4. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.
5. There have been revisions to this data, in particularly for Dumfries and Galloway Council from Q1 2016 and for Fife Council from Q2 2021, changing the headcounts for the Local Government and Total Devolved Public Sector columns
| Quarter |
Total Reserved Public Sector |
Civil Service |
Armed Forces |
Other Public Sector [note 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 1999 |
74,700 |
33,900 |
15,000 |
25,800 |
| Q3 2016 |
57,000 |
25,500 |
10,000 |
21,500 |
| Q3 2017 |
56,300 |
25,700 |
9,800 |
20,800 |
| Q3 2018 |
55,200 |
25,000 |
9,700 |
20,500 |
| Q3 2019 |
57,000 |
24,600 |
9,700 |
22,800 |
| Q3 2020 |
54,200 |
24,100 |
9,800 |
20,300 |
| Q3 2021 |
55,600 |
25,300 |
10,100 |
20,200 |
| Q3 2022 |
55,700 |
24,800 |
10,500 |
20,500 |
| Change on year to Q3 2022 |
130 |
-530 |
330 |
340 |
| % change on year Q3 2022 |
0.2% |
-2.1% |
3.3% |
1.7% |
Notes:
1. 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. Public corporations, public sector financial institutions and public bodies, have been combined into 'other public sector' to ensure individual organisation figures are not disclosed.
3. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.
| Quarter |
revisions |
Total Devolved Public Sector |
NHS |
Civil Service |
Police and Fire Services [note 2] |
Further Education Colleges [note 3] |
Other Public Bodies |
Local Government [note 2] |
Public Corporations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 1999 |
386,300 |
107,000 |
14,100 |
- |
11,500 |
7,800 |
237,000 |
9,000 |
|
| Q3 2016 |
424,600 |
138,700 |
15,900 |
27,400 |
10,100 |
14,000 |
198,000 |
20,000 |
|
| Q3 2017 |
426,300 |
139,500 |
16,200 |
27,000 |
10,200 |
14,100 |
199,000 |
21,000 |
|
| Q3 2018 |
414,100 |
139,800 |
16,800 |
26,900 |
10,100 |
14,400 |
198,000 |
8,000 |
|
| Q3 2019 |
426,000 |
141,400 |
19,200 |
27,500 |
10,200 |
14,300 |
205,000 |
8,000 |
|
| Q3 2020 |
r |
438,600 |
146,600 |
20,200 |
27,600 |
10,300 |
14,200 |
207,000 |
13,000 |
| Q3 2021 |
r |
451,900 |
154,300 |
22,200 |
27,600 |
10,200 |
14,000 |
211,000 |
13,000 |
| Q3 2022 |
459,800 |
155,900 |
25,800 |
26,900 |
10,000 |
14,300 |
214,000 |
13,000 |
|
| Change on year to Q3 2022 |
7,950 |
1,610 |
3,590 |
-610 |
-180 |
330 |
3,070 |
140 |
|
| % change on year Q3 2022 |
1.8% |
1.0% |
16.1% |
-2.2% |
-1.7% |
2.3% |
1.5% |
1.1% |
|
r - revision
Notes:
1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, with the exception of local government and public corporation figures which are rounded to the nearest thousand; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.
2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland.
3. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.
4. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.
| Quarter |
Total Reserved Public Sector |
Civil Service |
Armed Forces |
Other Public Sector [note 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 1999 |
71,200 |
32,000 |
15,000 |
24,200 |
| Q3 2016 |
53,500 |
23,100 |
10,000 |
20,400 |
| Q3 2017 |
52,900 |
23,400 |
9,800 |
19,700 |
| Q3 2018 |
51,900 |
22,700 |
9,700 |
19,500 |
| Q3 2019 |
53,600 |
22,300 |
9,700 |
21,700 |
| Q3 2020 |
51,100 |
21,900 |
9,800 |
19,400 |
| Q3 2021 |
52,700 |
23,200 |
10,100 |
19,300 |
| Q3 2022 |
52,900 |
22,800 |
10,500 |
19,700 |
| Change on year to Q3 2022 |
280 |
-390 |
330 |
340 |
| % change on year Q3 2022 |
0.5% |
-1.7% |
3.3% |
1.7% |
r - revision
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. Public corporations, public sector financial institutions and public bodies, have been combined into 'other public sector' to ensure individual organisation figures are not disclosed.
3. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.
Contact
Email: LMStats@gov.scot
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