Public sector employment, UK
People employed in the UK public sector – central government, local government and public corporations – each quarter since 1999, thousands, seasonally adjusted.
Public sector employment
6,207,000
Q2 2026
Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:18 UTCSource: Office for National Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
110 periods, newest first
| Period | Public sector employment |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 6,207,000 |
| Q1 2026 | 6,196,000 |
| Q4 2025 | 6,191,000 |
| Q3 2025 | 6,183,000 |
| Q2 2025 | 6,174,000 |
| Q1 2025 | 6,156,000 |
| Q4 2024 | 6,146,000 |
| Q3 2024 | 6,122,000 |
| Q2 2024 | 6,096,000 |
| Q1 2024 | 6,116,000 |
| Q4 2023 | 6,089,000 |
| Q3 2023 | 6,055,000 |
| Q2 2023 | 6,007,000 |
| Q1 2023 | 5,963,000 |
| Q4 2022 | 5,930,000 |
| Q3 2022 | 5,899,000 |
| Q2 2022 | 5,885,000 |
| Q1 2022 | 5,870,000 |
| Q4 2021 | 5,857,000 |
| Q3 2021 | 5,836,000 |
| Q2 2021 | 5,819,000 |
| Q1 2021 | 5,809,000 |
| Q4 2020 | 5,731,000 |
| Q3 2020 | 5,699,000 |
| Q2 2020 | 5,695,000 |
| Q1 2020 | 5,603,000 |
| Q4 2019 | 5,576,000 |
| Q3 2019 | 5,560,000 |
| Q2 2019 | 5,539,000 |
| Q1 2019 | 5,517,000 |
| Q4 2018 | 5,507,000 |
| Q3 2018 | 5,490,000 |
| Q2 2018 | 5,498,000 |
| Q1 2018 | 5,497,000 |
| Q4 2017 | 5,496,000 |
| Q3 2017 | 5,629,000 |
| Q2 2017 | 5,640,000 |
| Q1 2017 | 5,634,000 |
| Q4 2016 | 5,633,000 |
| Q3 2016 | 5,647,000 |
| Q2 2016 | 5,651,000 |
| Q1 2016 | 5,660,000 |
| Q4 2015 | 5,665,000 |
| Q3 2015 | 5,658,000 |
| Q2 2015 | 5,674,000 |
| Q1 2015 | 5,687,000 |
| Q4 2014 | 5,711,000 |
| Q3 2014 | 5,721,000 |
| Q2 2014 | 5,736,000 |
| Q1 2014 | 5,751,000 |
| Q4 2013 | 5,858,000 |
| Q3 2013 | 6,027,000 |
| Q2 2013 | 6,023,000 |
| Q1 2013 | 6,026,000 |
| Q4 2012 | 6,043,000 |
| Q3 2012 | 6,057,000 |
| Q2 2012 | 6,082,000 |
| Q1 2012 | 6,125,000 |
| Q4 2011 | 6,161,000 |
| Q3 2011 | 6,200,000 |
| Q2 2011 | 6,238,000 |
| Q1 2011 | 6,316,000 |
| Q4 2010 | 6,340,000 |
| Q3 2010 | 6,382,000 |
| Q2 2010 | 6,436,000 |
| Q1 2010 | 6,448,000 |
| Q4 2009 | 6,459,000 |
| Q3 2009 | 6,463,000 |
| Q2 2009 | 6,440,000 |
| Q1 2009 | 6,431,000 |
| Q4 2008 | 6,429,000 |
| Q3 2008 | 6,169,000 |
| Q2 2008 | 6,019,000 |
| Q1 2008 | 5,997,000 |
| Q4 2007 | 6,023,000 |
| Q3 2007 | 6,018,000 |
| Q2 2007 | 6,028,000 |
| Q1 2007 | 6,033,000 |
| Q4 2006 | 6,037,000 |
| Q3 2006 | 6,045,000 |
| Q2 2006 | 6,061,000 |
| Q1 2006 | 6,072,000 |
| Q4 2005 | 6,087,000 |
| Q3 2005 | 6,091,000 |
| Q2 2005 | 6,090,000 |
| Q1 2005 | 6,059,000 |
| Q4 2004 | 6,039,000 |
| Q3 2004 | 6,026,000 |
| Q2 2004 | 5,995,000 |
| Q1 2004 | 5,970,000 |
| Q4 2003 | 5,937,000 |
| Q3 2003 | 5,894,000 |
| Q2 2003 | 5,858,000 |
| Q1 2003 | 5,827,000 |
| Q4 2002 | 5,776,000 |
| Q3 2002 | 5,724,000 |
| Q2 2002 | 5,695,000 |
| Q1 2002 | 5,670,000 |
| Q4 2001 | 5,629,000 |
| Q3 2001 | 5,605,000 |
| Q2 2001 | 5,581,000 |
| Q1 2001 | 5,554,000 |
| Q4 2000 | 5,526,000 |
| Q3 2000 | 5,513,000 |
| Q2 2000 | 5,491,000 |
| Q1 2000 | 5,472,000 |
| Q4 1999 | 5,460,000 |
| Q3 1999 | 5,432,000 |
| Q2 1999 | 5,411,000 |
| Q1 1999 | 5,398,000 |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics
- Check it yourself
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/g7au/lms
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 31 October 2026, 11:12 UTC
- Publisher release
- 2026-10-19T23:00:00.000Z; next release 17 November 2026
- Series as published
- Public Sector Employment by Sector; Total Public Sector; UK; HC; SA; Thousands (G7AU, dataset LMS)
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/g7au/lms/dataSHA-256 cc0c8e26002fec6bc5374f9eb9a963ab5efe4e768e909600cc82f969464652e0 · 30,318 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:18 UTC Run at 31 October 2026, 11:18 UTC; 110 of 110 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Office for National Statistics; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-31T11:12:53Z; 1 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 1 of 1 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 110 of 110 figures and the headline reproduced |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 110 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 110 of 110 figures match exactly after downloading 1 source file(s) again (1 byte-identical); the headline matches |
| Pass | ONS CSV download agrees | 110 of 110 figures match the CSV at https://www.ons.gov.uk/generator?format=csv&uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/g7au/lms |
| Pass | ONS series is current | last released 2026-10-19, 11 days before retrieval (limit 400); next release 17 November 2026 |
| Pass | G7AU in PSE agrees | 110 of 110 figures match G7AU in the PSE dataset at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/g7au/pse/data |
| Pass | The three sectors add up to the total | 110 of 110 figures equal G6NQ + G6NT + G7AR in https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymenttimeseriesdataset/current/pse.csv |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/g7au/lms – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Headcount, not full-time equivalents. The ONS counts employment at a date in the last month of each quarter.