Equality duties: pay gap report 2026

Executive summary

This report provides pay gap information for the Scottish Government workforce in relation to gender, working pattern, ethnicity and disability and is based on data as at 31st December 2025.

• pay gaps within individual grades remain low. This indicates that the pay system is broadly supporting equal pay for work of equal value.
• at an organisational level, there has been progress in some areas. The mean gender pay gap has reduced slightly from 2.82% to 2.80%, and the mean disability pay gap has reduced from 9.22% to 7.70%.
• however, challenges remain. The mean ethnicity pay gap has increased from 8.20% to 11.07%, and the working pattern pay gap has slightly increased from 1.11% to 1.83%.
• workforce composition helps explain some of these gaps. Minority ethnic and disabled staff continue to be more represented in lower pay ranges, which affects the overall pay gap figures.
• the findings show that continued action is needed to improve representation, progression and inclusion across the organisation.
• annual publication of this report supports greater transparency and will help the Scottish Government monitor whether action is leading to sustained improvement.

Headline pay gap summary