Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for third quarter 2018

A snapshot of public sector employment up to September 2018.


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

Total Employment 6 Private Sector 2 Public Sector Estimated Private Sector including major reclassifications 3, 4 Estimated Public Sector excluding major reclassifications 3, 5
Level Level Percentage of total employment Level Percentage of total employment Level Percentage of total employment Level Percentage of total employment
Q3 1999 2,293,000 1,746,100 76.2% 546,500 23.8% 1,764,500 77.0% 528,100 23.0%
Q3 2012 r 2,488,000 1,890,400 76.0% 597,600 24.0% 1,952,200 78.5% 535,900 21.5%
Q3 2013 r 2,556,000 1,958,100 76.6% 597,800 23.4% 2,022,900 79.1% 533,100 20.9%
Q3 2014 r 2,593,000 2,032,300 78.4% 560,500 21.6% 2,060,800 79.5% 532,000 20.5%
Q3 2015 r 2,616,000 2,055,800 78.6% 560,200 21.4% 2,084,500 79.7% 531,400 20.3%
Q3 2016 r 2,584,000 2,025,600 78.4% 558,300 21.6% 2,054,200 79.5% 529,600 20.5%
Q3 2017 r 2,643,000 2,083,600 78.8% 559,700 21.2% 2,111,800 79.9% 531,600 20.1%
Q3 2018 2,632,000 2,086,500 79.3% 545,100 20.7% 2,099,000 79.8% 532,600 20.2%
Change on year to:
Q3 2018 -11,670 2,920 0.5 p.p. -14,590 -0.5 p.p. -12,750 -0.1 p.p. 1,080 0.1 p.p.
% change on year:
Q3 2018 -0.4% 0.1% -2.6% -0.6% 0.2%

r = revision due to addition of Cosla and revision of Community Safety Glasgow in local government. In addition, a number of devolved and reserved bodies have been added to the series (see footnotes below for full information).

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 and Registered Social Landlords.

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.

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.

6. Total employment figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

7. Public sector employment includes the following additional series: Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd from Q1 2008, British Wool Marketing Board from Q3 2009, The Oil and Pipeline Agency from Q1 2013, Medical Research Council Technology from Q1 2016, Awe Management Ltd from Q1 2014, NPL Management LtD from Q2 2017 and Shared Services Connect Limted from Q4 2015 to Q2 2017. Bòrd na Gàidhlig from Q4 2010, Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland from Q2 2011, Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland from Q2 2004, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission from Q4 2010, Scottish Commission for Human Rights from Q1 2008, Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureau from Q2 2005, Oil and Gas Authority from Q2 2015, and Information Commissioner's Office from Q1 2015.

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