Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for fourth 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 December 2020.


Table 1: Number of people employed by public and private sector; Scotland, Headcount

Footnote 1

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Total Employment6 Private Sector2 Public Sector Estimated Private Sector including major reclassifications3, 4 Estimated Public Sector excluding major reclassifications3, 5
  Level Level Percentage of total employment Level Percentage of total employment Level Percentage of total employment Level Percentage of total employment
Q4 1999 2,276,000 1,725,000 75.8% 551,200 24.2% 1,743,000 76.6% 533,000 23.4%
Q4 2014 2,596,000 2,034,500 78.4% 561,100 21.6% 2,063,000 79.5% 533,000 20.5%
Q4 2015 2,624,000 2,063,400 78.6% 560,900 21.4% 2,092,000 79.7% 532,000 20.3%
Q4 2016 2,612,000 2,053,900 78.6% 558,600 21.4% 2,082,000 79.7% 530,000 20.3%
Q4 2017 2,640,000 2,081,100 78.8% 558,500 21.2% 2,109,000 79.9% 531,000 20.1%
Q4 2018 2,650,000 2,098,000 79.2% 551,700 20.8% 2,110,000 79.6% 539,000 20.4%
Q4 2019 r 2,640,000 2,079,000 78.7% 561,300 21.3% 2,094,000 79.3% 546,000 20.7%
Q4 2020 2,633,000 2,059,400 78.2% 573,200 21.8% 2,078,000 78.9% 555,000 21.1%
Change on year to:  
Q4 2020 -7,610 -19,580 -0.5 p.p. 11,970 0.5 p.p. -17,000 -0.4 p.p. 9,000 0.4 p.p.
% change on year:                  
Q4 2020 -0.3% -0.9%   2.1%   -0.8%   1.6%  
r - due to minor revisions to data                  

Imortant Note: Estimates for private sector employment are based on the Labour Force Survey. Labour Force Survey (LFS) responses are weighted to official population projections. As the current projections are 2018-based they are based on demographic trends that pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic. ONS are analysing the population totals used in the weighting process and may make adjustments if appropriate. Rates published from the LFS remain robust; however, levels and changes in levels (for 2020) should be used with caution.

Notes:

p.p. - percentage points

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).

Contact

Email: LMStats@gov.scot

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