Public sector employees in Japan

Japan: Public sector employees was 5,263 in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
5,263
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
7th
of 64 countries
All-time high
5,518
in 2004
All-time low
4,659
in 2011
Years of data
24
2000–2023

Public sector employees in Japan, 2000–2023

02.0k4.0k6.0k2000201120232000: 5.3k2001: 5.3k2002: 5.3k2003: 5.4k2004: 5.5k2005: 5.4k2006: 5.2k2007: 5.2k2008: 4.8k2009: 4.9k2010: 4.8k2011: 4.7k2012: 4.8k2013: 4.9k2014: 5.0k2015: 4.9k2016: 4.9k2017: 4.9k2018: 4.9k2019: 5.1k2020: 5.1k2021: 5.2k2022: 5.2k2023: 5.3k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

The most recent figure for public sector employees in Japan is 5,263, measured in 2023.

The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 7.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public sector employees in Japan peaked at 5,518 in 2004 and was at its lowest, 4,659, in 2011.

Japan ranks 7th of 64 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Public sector employees in Japan, year by year

Annual values for Public sector employees in Japan, 2000 to 2023.
Year Value Change
2000 5,272
2001 5,286 +0.3%
2002 5,311 +0.5%
2003 5,379 +1.3%
2004 5,518 +2.6%
2005 5,386 -2.4%
2006 5,245 -2.6%
2007 5,226 -0.4%
2008 4,830 -7.6%
2009 4,864 +0.7%
2010 4,779 -1.7%
2011 4,659 -2.5%
2012 4,835 +3.8%
2013 4,893 +1.2%
2014 4,970 +1.6%
2015 4,887 -1.7%
2016 4,868 -0.4%
2017 4,886 +0.4%
2018 4,928 +0.9%
2019 5,068 +2.8%
2020 5,134 +1.3%
2021 5,223 +1.7%
2022 5,239 +0.3%
2023 5,263 +0.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5,232 4,830 5,518 10
2010s 4,877 4,659 5,068 10
2020s 5,215 5,134 5,263 4

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 4 France 5,852 compare
  2. 5 Pakistan 5,340 compare
  3. 6 Egypt 5,264 compare
  4. 8 Turkey 5,156 compare
  5. 9 Canada 4,549 compare
  6. 10 Vietnam 4,305 compare

See the full ranking of 64 places →

More work & labour data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is public sector employees in Japan?
Public sector employees in Japan was 5,263 in 2023, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest public sector employees recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 5,518 in 2004.
What is the lowest public sector employees recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 4,659 in 2011.
How does Japan rank for public sector employees?
Japan ranks 7th out of 64 countries with data for 2023.
Is public sector employees rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Japan 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 Japan. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/public-sector-employees/japan/

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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.