Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 4th Quarter 2012

1. Total employment and public and private sector employment in Scotland; Headcount (Table 1)

This section provides a summary of total employment in Scotland and the breakdown of public and private sector employment. The public sector is defined according to the UK National Accounts Classifications Guide^[1].

In quarter 4 (Q4) 2012, there were 580,400 people employed in the public sector in Scotland. Total public sector employment has decreased by 10,300 (1.7%) since Q4 2011 but increased by 29,200 (5.3%) since Q4 1999.

In the last year total employment has increased from 2,464,000 in Q4 2011 to 2,468,000 in Q4 2012, an increase of 4,900 (0.2%). There were 1,888,100 people employed in the private sector in Scotland, an increase from 1,872,900 in Q4 2011 and from 1,725,000 in Q4 1999.

Total public sector employment accounts for 23.5% of total employment in Scotland. This is down from 24.0% in Q4 2011 and from 24.2% in Q4 1999 (in 1999 the banking sector was not included in the public sector).

As shown in Chart 1; the number of people employed in the public sector in Scotland is now at a similar level to that seen in 2003, however if we exclude the banks the level is similar to that seen in 2001.

Chart 1: Total Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Headcount, 1999 - Q4 2012

Chart 2: Annual change in employment by main sector, Headcount

Impact of excluding Public Sector Financial Institutions

If we exclude public sector financial institutions^[2] from the series, there would be 551,700 people employed in the public sector in Q4 2012, representing 22.3% of total employment in Scotland.

Excluding these banking groups, public sector employment would have decreased by 7,600 (1.4%), instead of 10,300 (1.7%), over the year and would have increased by 500 (0.1%) since Q4 1999 instead of 29,200 (5.3%).