Public employment by country
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have...
What the numbers show
Public employment is currently reported for 47 countries. The highest value is 159,150 in United States of America; the lowest is 15.63 in San Marino.
The median across all reporting countries is 3,251, and the mean is 12,159.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 10,184.
Over the past decade 38 countries rose and 7 fell. The largest increase was in Tanzania, United Republic of (up 1,198.5%), and the largest decrease in Spain (down 79.9%).
Public employment: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 159,150 | 2023 | up 12.8% | rising |
| 2 | Japan | 65,989 | 2006 | down 1.9% | flat |
| 3 | Mexico | 40,790 | 2023 | down 2.6% | rising |
| 4 | Türkiye | 32,620 | 2024 | up 25.8% | rising |
| 5 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 32,576 | 2024 | up 6.1% | rising |
| 6 | France | 30,623 | 2024 | up 12.0% | rising |
| 7 | Republic of Korea | 28,600 | 2023 | up 7.5% | rising |
| 8 | Italy | 24,916 | 2023 | up 7.2% | rising |
| 9 | Egypt | 24,219 | 2014 | up 25.6% | rising |
| 10 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 24,139 | 2023 | up 1,198.5% | volatile |
| 11 | Netherlands | 10,266 | 2024 | up 9.1% | rising |
| 12 | Romania | 8,627 | 2024 | down 0.1% | falling |
| 13 | Chile | 8,217 | 2016 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 14 | Switzerland | 5,561 | 2022 | up 13.0% | rising |
| 15 | Sweden | 5,356 | 2024 | up 13.0% | rising |
| 16 | Belgium | 5,096 | 2022 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 17 | Greece | 5,044 | 2023 | up 42.7% | rising |
| 18 | Hungary | 4,764 | 2024 | up 25.1% | rising |
| 19 | Austria | 4,725 | 2023 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 20 | Belarus | 4,550 | 2014 | up 3.1% | flat |
| 21 | Czechia | 4,491 | 2017 | up 2.1% | flat |
| 22 | Hong Kong, China | 3,749 | 2014 | up 12.4% | rising |
| 23 | Spain | 3,444 | 2023 | down 79.9% | falling |
| 24 | Paraguay | 3,251 | 2014 | up 221.3% | rising |
| 25 | Denmark | 3,112 | 2023 | up 24.8% | rising |
| 26 | Norway | 2,973 | 2023 | up 9.6% | rising |
| 27 | Finland | 2,739 | 2024 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 28 | Slovakia | 2,430 | 2024 | up 9.3% | rising |
| 29 | New Zealand | 2,290 | 2023 | up 28.0% | rising |
| 30 | Ireland | 2,234 | 2023 | up 44.2% | rising |
| 31 | Costa Rica | 2,095 | 2023 | up 10.1% | rising |
| 32 | South Africa | 1,976 | 2024 | up 7.9% | rising |
| 33 | Croatia | 1,684 | 2024 | up 7.5% | falling |
| 34 | Azerbaijan | 1,520 | 2014 | up 17.2% | rising |
| 35 | Lithuania | 1,377 | 2024 | up 13.3% | rising |
| 36 | Georgia | 1,335 | 2023 | down 21.2% | falling |
| 37 | Slovenia | 1,102 | 2024 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 38 | Latvia | 839.65 | 2024 | down 2.0% | falling |
| 39 | Estonia | 671.3 | 2019 | up 16.4% | rising |
| 40 | Republic of Moldova | 632.36 | 2024 | up 6.4% | rising |
| 41 | Luxembourg | 517.81 | 2024 | up 30.8% | rising |
| 42 | Cyprus | 475.67 | 2023 | — | rising |
| 43 | Malta | 319.56 | 2024 | up 95.3% | rising |
| 44 | Iceland | 202.41 | 2019 | up 23.0% | rising |
| 45 | New Caledonia | 89.33 | 2016 | — | flat |
| 46 | Jersey | 56.54 | 2014 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 47 | San Marino | 15.63 | 2024 | down 23.0% | falling |
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. The total public sector employment covers all employment of general government sector as defined in System of National Accounts 1993 plus employment of publicly owned enterprises and companies, resident and operating at central, state (or regional) and local levels of government. It covers all persons employed directly by those institutions, without regard for the particular type of employment contract. See the working paper: Statistics on Public Sector Employment: Methodology, Structures and Trends. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.