Scottish Public Sector Employment Increases

15th June 2018

Public Sector Employment Statistics for Scotland, released this week by Scotland's Chief Statistician, show that there were 561,300 people employed in the public sector in Scotland in Q1 2018.

In Q1 2018, public sector employment accounted for 21.5 per cent of total employment in the country and private sector employment accounted for 78.5 per cent of total employment in Scotland.

The devolved public sector saw a net increase of 2,740 (+0.5%) over the year. There were increases in headcount in Local Government by 1,640 (+0.7%), NHS staff by 460 (+0.3%), public corporations by 390 (+1.7%), other public bodies by 140 (+0.9%), and devolved civil service by 420 (+2.5%). There were decreases in Police and Fire by 300 (-1.1%) and further education college headcounts remained unchanged.

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.

The full National Statistics publication can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781788519380