Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 4th 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 December 2022.


Summary

Key points - based on headcount data:

  • in December 2022, there were 594,500 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, accounting for 21.9% of total employment[1].
  • in December 2022, employment in the public sector was 5,960 (1.0%) more than in December 2021.
  • when major reclassifications are excluded, the public sector increased between December 2021 and December 2022 by around 5,000 (1.0%)[2].
  • of the total 594,500 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 538,700 (90.6%) were employed in the devolved public sector in December 2022. This was 5,380 (1.0%) more than in December 2021.
  • between December 2021 and December 2022, employment in the devolved public sector increased by:
  • 2,490 (1.0%) in Local Government
  • 3,100 (12.7%) in the Devolved Civil Service
  • 360 (2.4%) in Other Public Bodies
  • 330 (2.5%) in Public Corporations

Employment in the devolved public sector decreased by:

  • 420 (-1.5%) in Police and Fire Related Services
  • 190 (-1.5%) in Further Education Colleges
  • 300 (-0.2%) in the NHS
  • in December 2022, there were 55,800 people employed in the Reserved Public Sector in Scotland. This was 590 (1.1%) more than in December 2021. The Reserved Public Sector accounts for 9.4% of total public sector employment in Scotland.
  • between December 2021 and December 2022, employment within the Reserved Public Sector decreased in the reserved Civil Service by 480 (-1.9%). Employment increased in Armed Forces by 330 (3.3%) and in Other Public Sector[3] by 730 (3.7%).

Contact

Email: LMStats@gov.scot

Back to top