Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for fourth quarter 2019

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 2019.

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Summary

Quarterly Public Sector Employment in Scotland Q4 2019
Quarterly Public Sector Employment in Scotland Q4 2019

Key points (based on headcount data) include:

  • In December 2019, there were 561,400 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, accounting for 21.3% of total employment.
  • In December 2019, employment in the public sector was 9,730 more than in December 2018.
  • When major reclassifications are excluded, the public sector increased between December 2018 and December 2019 by around 7,000 (1.2%)[1].
  • Of the total 561,400 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 505,200 (90.0%) were employed in the devolved public sector in December 2019, 8,300 (1.7%) more than in December 2018.
  • Between December 2018 and December 2019, employment in the devolved public sector increased in Public Corporations by 130 (1.6%), in Local Government by 3,090 (1.2%), Further Education Colleges by 210 (1.5%), the NHS by 2,060 (1.3%), Civil Service by 2,420 (13.3%), Police and Fire Related Services by 260 (0.9%) and Other Public Bodies by 130 (0.8%)
  • 56,300 (10.0%) people in the public sector were employed in the reserved public sector in Scotland, 1,440 (2.6%) more than in December 2018.
  • Between December 2018 and December 2019, employment within the reserved public sector increased in Other Public Sector by 1,990 (9.8%) and decreased in the Civil Service by 550 (2.2%) and stayed the same for Armed Forces.

Contact

Email: lmstats@gov.scot

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