Statizoid

Public sector employment, as a share of paid employment by country

Countries reporting
75
Highest
0.6305
Maldives
Lowest
0.0849
Colombia
Median
0.263
Years covered
23
2000–2022
Data points
979

What the numbers show

Public sector employment, as a share of paid employment is currently reported for 75 countries. The highest value is 0.6305 in Maldives; the lowest is 0.0849 in Colombia.

The median across all reporting countries is 0.263, and the mean is 0.2728.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 7.

Over the past decade 36 countries rose and 37 fell. The largest increase was in Chile (up 157.1%), and the largest decrease in Jordan (down 34.0%).

Public sector employment, as a share of paid employment: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Maldives 0.6305 2019 up 22.3% falling
2 Ethiopia 0.4886 2021 up 6.0% flat
3 Russia 0.4795 2016 down 6.1% falling
4 Moldova 0.4707 2015 up 12.6% rising
5 Mongolia 0.4511 2021 down 9.7% falling
6 Ukraine 0.416 2013 down 25.3% falling
7 Zambia 0.4071 2015 up 7.3% falling
8 Belgium 0.4049 2020 up 8.5% falling
9 Georgia 0.3768 2013 down 21.9% falling
10 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.3683 2019 down 17.8% falling
11 Denmark 0.3637 2020 — flat
12 Armenia 0.361 2021 down 20.1% falling
13 Albania 0.3566 2012 down 15.4% falling
14 Iceland 0.3446 2013 down 6.8% flat
15 United Kingdom 0.3398 2018 up 1.7% falling
16 Greece 0.3333 2020 up 1.1% flat
17 Ireland 0.3323 2020 up 1.9% flat
18 France 0.3299 2020 down 5.5% falling
19 Luxembourg 0.3292 2020 up 21.9% flat
20 Malta 0.3275 2020 up 11.1% rising
21 Vietnam 0.3239 2019 up 9.1% falling
22 Finland 0.3194 2020 up 5.6% flat
23 Panama 0.3134 2021 up 32.9% flat
24 Tunisia 0.3076 2015 down 0.1% falling
25 Egypt 0.3064 2019 down 25.0% flat
26 Palestine 0.3044 2017 down 32.7% falling
27 Switzerland 0.3025 2020 up 12.7% rising
28 Portugal 0.3003 2020 up 18.9% rising
29 Austria 0.2896 2020 up 12.6% flat
30 Spain 0.2892 2020 up 6.7% rising
31 Venezuela 0.2867 2006 up 9.8% rising
32 Dominican Republic 0.2866 2019 up 37.2% rising
33 Hungary 0.2784 2020 up 0.7% falling
34 Slovakia 0.2781 2020 down 4.0% falling
35 Cameroon 0.2762 2022 up 22.2% falling
36 Lithuania 0.2761 2020 down 4.6% falling
37 Latvia 0.2663 2020 up 1.3% flat
38 Bolivia 0.263 2021 up 0.1% rising
39 Argentina 0.261 2021 up 18.8% flat
40 Jordan 0.2582 2016 down 34.0% falling
41 Poland 0.2564 2020 up 4.8% falling
42 Slovenia 0.2533 2020 up 5.3% falling
43 Czechia 0.2477 2020 up 12.0% falling
44 Estonia 0.2469 2020 down 4.0% falling
45 Italy 0.2461 2020 down 0.9% falling
46 Uruguay 0.237 2020 up 18.1% falling
47 Turkey 0.2362 2019 up 11.8% falling
48 Namibia 0.2359 2015 down 32.8% falling
49 South Africa 0.2337 2020 up 18.6% flat
50 Australia 0.2334 2015 down 26.4% falling
51 Croatia 0.2325 2020 up 10.6% rising
52 Mauritius 0.2274 2017 down 3.6% flat
53 Cyprus 0.227 2020 down 1.2% flat
54 Chile 0.2147 2020 up 157.1% rising
55 Mexico 0.2099 2020 up 33.7% flat
56 Serbia 0.2008 2020 down 25.3% falling
57 Tanzania 0.2006 2020 down 6.1% falling
58 Pakistan 0.2001 2020 down 11.0% falling
59 Morocco 0.1993 2009 — falling
60 Bulgaria 0.1963 2019 up 5.3% falling
61 Sri Lanka 0.1943 2016 down 3.9% falling
62 Brazil 0.1875 2021 up 5.0% flat
63 Peru 0.1828 2021 down 7.8% falling
64 Paraguay 0.1733 2021 down 7.8% flat
65 Costa Rica 0.1717 2021 down 0.7% falling
66 Cambodia 0.166 2012 down 23.6% falling
67 Romania 0.1619 2020 down 10.9% falling
68 Ecuador 0.1594 2020 down 6.4% rising
69 Philippines 0.1431 2019 down 7.7% falling
70 El Salvador 0.1377 2021 down 0.7% falling
71 United States 0.1374 2018 down 13.0% falling
72 Honduras 0.1337 2019 down 1.4% falling
73 Guatemala 0.1015 2019 up 6.6% flat
74 Rwanda 0.092 2020 down 11.1% flat
75 Colombia 0.0849 2020 down 6.2% falling

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Public sector employment, as a share of paid employment by country. Statizoid. Retrieved 29 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/public-sector-employment-as-a-share-of-paid-employment/

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About this data

Indicator
Public sector employment, as a share of paid employment
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
75 places, 979 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed