Scottish Public Sector Employment

16th June 2020

Public Sector Employment Statistics for Scotland released today by Scotland's Chief Statistician show that there were 561,900 people employed in the public sector in Scotland in March 2020.

As of March 2020, public sector employment accounted for 21.3% of total employment in Scotland and private sector employment accounted for 78.7% of total employment.

There were 508,700 people employed in the devolved public sector in March 2020, a net increase of 8,700 (1.7%) since March 2019.

There were increases in headcount in:

devolved civil service by 2,460 (+13.1%)

public corporations by 30 (+0.4%)

further education colleges by 160 (+1.1%)

NHS by 2,910 (+1.8%)

police and fire by 470 (+1,7%)

local government by 2,810 (+1.1%)

There was a decrease in headcount in:

other public bodies by 150 (-0.9%)

The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

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