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

3,388 000's

2020 Q4

Release date:
23 March 2021
Next release:
15 June 2021
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Public sector employment, UK: December 2020

What's in the bulletin?

  • Total public sector employment continued to rise in December 2020 after increasing throughout the year 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 5.60 million employees in the public sector for December 2020, an increase of 30,000 (0.5%) compared with September 2020 and an increase of 160,000 (2.9%) compared with December 2019; excluding the transfer of train operating companies to the public sector in June 2020, total PSE increased by 114,000 (2.1%) compared with December 2019.
  • Employment in central government increased to an estimated 3.39 million for December 2020, up 34,000 (1.0%) compared with September 2020 and up 118,000 (3.6%) compared with December 2019; 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 an industrial breakdown.

  • 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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Methodology related to Public sector personnel

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