Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 3rd Quarter 2022

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 September 2022.


Tables

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

Quarter [Note 7]

revisions

Total Employment Level [note 6]

Private Sector [Note 2]

Public Sector

Estimated Private Sector (including major reclassifications) Level [note 3][note 4]

Estimated Public Sector (excluding major reclassifications) Level [note 3][note 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

1,746,200

76.2%

546,400

23.8%

1,765,000

77.0%

528,000

23.0%

Q3 2016

r

2,600,000

2,042,800

78.6%

557,300

21.4%

2,071,000

79.7%

529,000

20.3%

Q3 2017

r

2,666,000

2,108,300

79.1%

557,300

20.9%

2,136,000

80.1%

529,000

19.9%

Q3 2018

r

2,662,000

2,119,200

79.6%

542,800

20.4%

2,132,000

80.1%

530,000

19.9%

Q3 2019

r

2,616,000

2,056,900

78.6%

559,300

21.4%

2,073,000

79.2%

544,000

20.8%

Q3 2020

r

2,650,000

2,080,800

78.5%

569,200

21.5%

2,100,000

79.2%

551,000

20.8%

Q3 2021

r

2,649,000

2,064,200

77.9%

584,400

22.1%

2,083,000

78.6%

566,000

21.4%

Q3 2022

2,710,000

2,116,800

78.1%

593,400

21.9%

2,135,000

78.8%

575,000

21.2%

Change on year to Q3 2022

61,650

52,600

0.2 p.p.

9,040

-0.2 p.p.

53,000

0.2 p.p.

9,000

-0.2 p.p.

% change on year Q3 2022

2.3%

2.5%

1.5%

2.5%

1.6%

p.p. - percentage points, r- revision

Notes:

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).

7. There have been revisions to this data, in particular to the private Sector figures due to revisions made in the ONS Labour Force Survey in June 2022 and also changes to the public sector values due to revisions in the data for two Councils among other small changes

Table 2: Public sector employment by devolved and reserved sector; Scotland, Headcount and Full-time equivalent
Quarter Headcount Full-time equivalent

 

revisions [note 4]

Total Public Sector

Devolved Public Sector [note 2]

Reserved Public Sector [note 3]

Total Public Sector

Devolved Public Sector [note 2]

Reserved Public Sector [note 3]

Q3 1999

546,400

471,600

74,700

457,600

386,300

71,200

Q3 2016

r

557,300

500,300

57,000

478,100

424,600

53,500

Q3 2017

r

557,300

501,000

56,300

479,200

426,300

52,900

Q3 2018

r

542,800

487,600

55,200

466,100

414,100

51,900

Q3 2019

r

559,300

502,200

57,000

479,700

426,000

53,600

Q3 2020

r

569,200

514,900

54,200

489,700

438,600

51,100

Q3 2021

r

584,400

528,800

55,600

504,500

451,900

52,700

Q3 2022

593,400

537,700

55,700

512,700

459,800

52,900

Change on year to Q3 2022

9,040

8,910

130

8,220

7,950

280

% change on year Q3 2022

1.5%

1.7%

0.2%

1.6%

1.8%

0.5%

r - revision

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Change on year rounded to the nearest ten. Percentages are based on unrounded figures. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Devolved Public Sector consists of the following staff groups: Civil Service, Other Public Bodies, NHS, Further Education Colleges, Local Government and Public Corporations (as shown in Table 3).

3. Reserved Public Sector consists of the following staff groups: Civil Service, Armed Forces, Other Public Sector (as shown in Table 4)

4. There have been revisions to this data, in particularly for Dumfries and Galloway Council from Q1 2016 and for Fife Council from Q2 2021, changing the headcounts for the Total Devolved Public Sector and the Total Public Sector columns

Table 3: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Headcount

Quarter

revisions [note 5]

Total Devolved

Public Sector

NHS

Civil Service

Police and Fire Services [note 2]

Further Education Colleges [note 3]

Other Public Bodies [note 3]

Local Government [note 2]

Public Corporations

Q3 1999

471,600

129,700

14,600

-

15,700

8,400

294,000

9,000

Q3 2016

r

500,300

161,800

16,800

28,100

14,000

15,500

241,000

23,000

Q3 2017

r

501,000

162,700

17,200

27,700

13,500

15,500

241,000

23,000

Q3 2018

r

487,600

162,900

17,800

27,600

13,800

16,100

241,000

8,000

Q3 2019

r

502,200

164,800

20,300

28,100

13,900

16,000

251,000

9,000

Q3 2020

r

514,900

170,600

21,400

28,300

13,500

15,700

252,000

14,000

Q3 2021

r

528,800

179,300

23,500

28,200

13,200

15,300

256,000

13,000

Q3 2022

537,700

180,300

27,200

27,600

13,000

15,600

260,000

14,000

Change on year to Q3 2022

8,910

1,010

3,710

-640

-140

290

4,320

360

% change on year Q3 2022

1.7%

0.6%

15.8%

-2.3%

-1.1%

1.9%

1.7%

2.8%

r - revision

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, with the exception of local government and public corporation figures which are rounded to the nearest thousand; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland.

3. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.

4. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.

5. There have been revisions to this data, in particularly for Dumfries and Galloway Council from Q1 2016 and for Fife Council from Q2 2021, changing the headcounts for the Local Government and Total Devolved Public Sector columns

Table 4: Total reserved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Headcount

Quarter

Total Reserved

Public Sector

Civil Service

Armed Forces

Other Public Sector [note 2]

Q3 1999

74,700

33,900

15,000

25,800

Q3 2016

57,000

25,500

10,000

21,500

Q3 2017

56,300

25,700

9,800

20,800

Q3 2018

55,200

25,000

9,700

20,500

Q3 2019

57,000

24,600

9,700

22,800

Q3 2020

54,200

24,100

9,800

20,300

Q3 2021

55,600

25,300

10,100

20,200

Q3 2022

55,700

24,800

10,500

20,500

Change on year to Q3 2022

130

-530

330

340

% change on year Q3 2022

0.2%

-2.1%

3.3%

1.7%

Notes:

1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Change on year rounded to the nearest ten. Percentages are based on unrounded figures. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Public corporations, public sector financial institutions and public bodies, have been combined into 'other public sector' to ensure individual organisation figures are not disclosed.

3. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.

Table 5: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Full-time equivalent

Quarter

revisions

Total Devolved

Public Sector

NHS

Civil Service

Police and Fire Services [note 2]

Further Education Colleges [note 3]

Other Public Bodies

Local Government [note 2]

Public Corporations

Q3 1999

386,300

107,000

14,100

-

11,500

7,800

237,000

9,000

Q3 2016

424,600

138,700

15,900

27,400

10,100

14,000

198,000

20,000

Q3 2017

426,300

139,500

16,200

27,000

10,200

14,100

199,000

21,000

Q3 2018

414,100

139,800

16,800

26,900

10,100

14,400

198,000

8,000

Q3 2019

426,000

141,400

19,200

27,500

10,200

14,300

205,000

8,000

Q3 2020

r

438,600

146,600

20,200

27,600

10,300

14,200

207,000

13,000

Q3 2021

r

451,900

154,300

22,200

27,600

10,200

14,000

211,000

13,000

Q3 2022

459,800

155,900

25,800

26,900

10,000

14,300

214,000

13,000

Change on year to Q3 2022

7,950

1,610

3,590

-610

-180

330

3,070

140

% change on year Q3 2022

1.8%

1.0%

16.1%

-2.2%

-1.7%

2.3%

1.5%

1.1%

r - revision

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, with the exception of local government and public corporation figures which are rounded to the nearest thousand; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland.

3. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.

4. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.

Table 6: Total reserved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Full-time equivalent

Quarter

Total Reserved

Public Sector

Civil Service

Armed Forces

Other Public Sector [note 2]

Q3 1999

71,200

32,000

15,000

24,200

Q3 2016

53,500

23,100

10,000

20,400

Q3 2017

52,900

23,400

9,800

19,700

Q3 2018

51,900

22,700

9,700

19,500

Q3 2019

53,600

22,300

9,700

21,700

Q3 2020

51,100

21,900

9,800

19,400

Q3 2021

52,700

23,200

10,100

19,300

Q3 2022

52,900

22,800

10,500

19,700

Change on year to Q3 2022

280

-390

330

340

% change on year Q3 2022

0.5%

-1.7%

3.3%

1.7%

r - revision

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Change on year rounded to the nearest ten. Percentages are based on unrounded figures. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Public corporations, public sector financial institutions and public bodies, have been combined into 'other public sector' to ensure individual organisation figures are not disclosed.

3. For further information on interpreting these series, see the series reclassification guide or background notes of the publication.

Contact

Email: LMStats@gov.scot

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