Public sector personnel

People employed in central government, local government and public corporations, including those with a second job in the public sector. Statistics also include Civil Service employment with regional, earnings and diversity analyses.

Highlights

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

3,071 000's

2017 Q4

Release date:
21 March 2018

Next release:
12 June 2018
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Public sector employment, UK: December 2017

What's in the bulletin?

  • There were 5.35 million people employed in the public sector for December 2017, that is, 132,000 fewer than for September 2017 and 100,000 fewer compared with December 2016; these large falls were entirely due to the transfer of English housing associations to the private sector.
  • Excluding the English housing associations reclassification effect, the number of people employed in the public sector increased by 9,000 between September and December 2017 and increased by 44,000 between December 2016 and December 2017.
  • There were 26.90 million people employed in the private sector for December 2017, that is, 300,000 more than for September 2017 and 502,000 more than for December 2016; these increases were partly due to the transfer of English housing associations to the private sector.
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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 an industrial breakdown.

  • Civil Service statistics

    Civil Service employment in the UK including gender, ethnicity, disability status, earnings and location of the Civil Service workforce.

  • Civil Service statistics data summary tool

    The data summary tool is a spreadsheet that allows users to see how a specific department differs from the Civil Service average or from another government department. For example the proportions of the headcounts of different government departments split between men and women, full-timers and part-timers, permanent and temporary appointments, regions where staff work and a number of others.

  • 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

    Civil Service employment in the UK including gender, ethnicity, disability status, earnings and location of the Civil Service workforce.

  • Civil Service statistics data summary tool

    The data summary tool is a spreadsheet that allows users to see how a specific department differs from the Civil Service average or from another government department. For example the proportions of the headcounts of different government departments split between men and women, full-timers and part-timers, permanent and temporary appointments, regions where staff work and a number of others.

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Publications related to Public sector personnel

Statistical bulletins

  • Public sector employment, UK: December 2017

    The official measure of people employed in the UK public sector, including private sector estimates, based on the difference between total UK employment and public sector employment.

  • Civil Service statistics, UK: 2017

    Presents Civil Service employment statistics, which provide regional analyses, diversity and earnings statistics for the Civil Service population.

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Methodology related to Public sector personnel

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