Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 3rd Quarter 2023

Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

This section normally includes estimates for private sector employment in Scotland. Estimates of total employment from the ONS Labour Force Survey are not available for August-October 2023, therefore it is not possible to produce private sector employment estimates for September 2023 or provide the proportion of people employed in the public or private sectors. See the ONS Update on the Labour Force Survey statement for more information.

Public sector employment in Scotland increased by 7,860 (1.3%) between September 2022 and September 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:  Public Sector employment in Scotland has been gradually increasing since 2018
Public Sector employment and estimated public sector employment (excluding major reclassifications) in Scotland, June 1999 to September 2023, non-seasonally adjusted

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2023

Figure 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[1] (i.e. taking out the headcounts for all large organisations listed in the footnote 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. In Q3 2018, Social Security Scotland was added to the public sector series and has grown in size over time partly contributing to the increase.

Figure 2 shows the annual change in employment for the public sector. Employment increased by 7,860 (1.3%) between September 2022 and September 2023. The increase is mostly due to increases in the NHS and Local Government employment in the Devolved Public Sector.

Figure 2: Public Sector employment in Scotland increased over the year

Annual change in Public Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3, 2023

Impact of Excluding Major Reclassifications from Public Sector

If the major reclassifications were to be excluded from the public sector series (i.e. the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 1 were taken out of the overall numbers), there would be around 581,000 people employed in the public sector as at September 2023.

Public sector employment, excluding the effects of the major reclassifications, would be around 7,000 (1.3%) higher in September 2023 compared with September 2022. The increase when major reclassifications are included is higher (7,860), showing that reclassifications are playing a small role in the increase over the year.