Background:
- Headcount in the public sector in September 2022 was 5.769 million. This has increased every quarter since September 2018.[1]
- In relative terms, employment growth in the public sector continues to outpace that in the private sector: civil service employment grew at a rate four times faster than the private sector between September 2021 and 2022.[2]
- The headcount in ‘public corporations’ – which includes train operating companies in England, Scotland and Wales – remains 25 per cent above their March 2020 level (before their effective re-nationalisation), at 197,000 in September 2022.[3]
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[1] Office for National Statistics, Public sector employment, UK: September 2022: table 1, www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable/september2022/datasets.xlsx, (accessed 13 December 2022).
[2] Office for National Statistics, Public sector employment, UK: September 2022, 13 December 2022, www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2022, (accessed 13 December 2022).
[3] Office for National Statistics, Public sector employment, UK: September 2022: table 1, www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable/september2022/datasets.xlsx, (accessed 13 December 2022).