Public sector personnel

People employed in central and local government, and public corporations, including second jobs in the public sector. Includes Civil Service employment with regional and diversity analyses.

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Public Sector Employment by Sector; Central Gov; UK; HC; SA; Thousands

3,468 000's

2021 Q1

Release date:
15 July 2021
Next release:
14 September 2021
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Public sector employment, UK: March 2021

What's in the bulletin?

  • Total public sector employment (PSE) continued to rise in March 2021 after increasing throughout 2020, partly because of the response of the National Health Service (NHS) and the Civil Service to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
  • There were an estimated 5.67 million employees in the public sector for March 2021, an increase of 72,000 (1.3%) compared with December 2020 and an increase of 206,000 (3.8%) compared with March 2020; excluding the transfer of train operating companies to the public sector in June 2020, total PSE increased by 160,000 (3.0%) compared with March 2020.
  • Employment in central government increased to an estimated 3.47 million for March 2021, up 77,000 (2.3%) compared with December 2020 and up 169,000 (5.1%) compared with March 2020; the main contributors to this increase were the NHS, the Civil Service and local authority schools becoming academies.
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Time series related to Public sector personnel

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Datasets related to Public sector personnel

  • Public sector employment

    Quarterly estimates of UK and regional public sector employment, made up of central government (including Civil Service), local government and public corporations. The estimates also include a breakdown by industry.

  • Civil Service statistics

    Annual data on Civil Service employment in the UK, including gender, ethnicity, disability status, earnings and location of the Civil Service workforce. This dataset has now been transferred to the Cabinet Office.

  • Civil Service statistics data summary tool

    An interactive tool allowing users to compare government departments and the Civil Service average, including the split between men and women, full-time and part-time employees, permanent and temporary appointments and regional analysis.

  • Public sector employment time series

    Seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted quarterly time series of UK public sector employment, containing the latest estimates.

  • Civil Service statistics

    Annual data on Civil Service employment in the UK, including gender, ethnicity, disability status, earnings and location of the Civil Service workforce. This dataset has now been transferred to the Cabinet Office.

  • Civil Service statistics data summary tool

    An interactive tool allowing users to compare government departments and the Civil Service average, including the split between men and women, full-time and part-time employees, permanent and temporary appointments and regional analysis.

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Publications related to Public sector personnel

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Methodology related to Public sector personnel

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