Public sector employees in France

France: Public sector employees was 5,852 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
5,852
Change on year
up 1.7%
World rank
4th
of 64 countries
All-time high
5,852
in 2024
All-time low
5,034
in 2011
Years of data
20
2005–2024

Public sector employees in France, 2005–2024

02.0k4.0k6.0k2005201420242005: 5.5k2006: 5.4k2007: 5.5k2008: 5.2k2009: 5.2k2010: 5.1k2011: 5.0k2012: 5.1k2013: 5.3k2014: 5.6k2015: 5.5k2016: 5.4k2017: 5.4k2018: 5.4k2019: 5.6k2020: 5.6k2021: 5.7k2022: 5.7k2023: 5.8k2024: 5.9k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

France recorded 5,852 for public sector employees in 2024. That is the highest value across all 20 years on record.

The figure is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 4.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public sector employees in France peaked at 5,852 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5,034, in 2011.

That places France 4th out of 64 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.

Public sector employees in France, year by year

Annual values for Public sector employees in France, 2005 to 2024.
Year Value Change
2005 5,481
2006 5,394 -1.6%
2007 5,471 +1.4%
2008 5,232 -4.4%
2009 5,163 -1.3%
2010 5,131 -0.6%
2011 5,034 -1.9%
2012 5,052 +0.4%
2013 5,331 +5.5%
2014 5,587 +4.8%
2015 5,453 -2.4%
2016 5,413 -0.7%
2017 5,380 -0.6%
2018 5,416 +0.7%
2019 5,557 +2.6%
2020 5,617 +1.1%
2021 5,658 +0.7%
2022 5,676 +0.3%
2023 5,751 +1.3%
2024 5,852 +1.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5,348 5,163 5,481 5
2010s 5,335 5,034 5,587 10
2020s 5,711 5,617 5,852 5

Countries ranked near France

  1. 1 Brazil 8,173
  2. 2 United Kingdom 8,168 compare
  3. 3 Mexico 5,908 compare
  4. 5 Pakistan 5,340 compare
  5. 6 Egypt 5,264 compare
  6. 7 Japan 5,263 compare

See the full ranking of 64 places →

More work & labour data for France

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is public sector employees in France?
Public sector employees in France was 5,852 in 2024, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest public sector employees recorded in France?
The highest recorded value was 5,852 in 2024.
What is the lowest public sector employees recorded in France?
The lowest recorded value was 5,034 in 2011.
How does France rank for public sector employees?
France ranks 4th out of 64 countries with data for 2024.
Is public sector employees rising or falling in France?
Over the last ten years it is up 4.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this France data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Public sector employees. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Public sector employees in France. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/public-sector-employees/france/

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About this data

Indicator
Public sector employees
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
64 places, 943 data points, 1987–2026
Last refreshed

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. Employees are all those workers who hold paid employment jobs, which are those where the incumbents hold employment contracts which give them a basic remuneration not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work. Type of job contract refers to permanent versus temporary (i.e. short-term or casual) contracts. For more information, refer to the Worker and Sector Profiles (PROF) database description.