This chart shows how employment levels have evolved since 1902. Figures are based on the numbers of full-time equivalent (FTE) civil servants. Employment reached a peak in 1944. Since then there has been a long-term downward trend.

Sources:
1902 to 1990 – Mandate and Departmental returns, Civil Service Statistics
1991 to 1998 – Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS
1999 to 2011 – Quarterly Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS

Key dates

The following list gives the numbers of FTE civil servants at key dates during the last 100 years. 

• 1918, end of WW1 – 221,000
• 1939,  start of WW11 – 347,000
• 1944, highest ever number – 1,160,000
• 1945, the number stood at – 1,100,000
• 1977, the highest number in the last 35 years – 746,000
• First quarter 1999, the previous lowest recorded number post WW11 – 478,000
• Second quarter 2005, Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) transfer – 536,000
• Fourth quarter 2010,  lowest ever post-war level –  470,000
• First quarter 2011, current position, slight increase on last quarter - 471,000

In the last 20 years, the proportion of civil servants located in London and the South East has reduced from 37.6% to 27.1%.

Sources:
Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS
Civil Service Statistics, ONS

Almost three-quarters of permanent civil servants work at one of the four
largest departments:

• DWP – 23.3%
• HMRC – 15%
• MOD – 15.3%
• MOJ – 16.6%
• Other departments – 29.8%

The representation of women has been increasing year on year. Women have made up more than half of civil servants since 2001.

2010 – 53%
1991 – 46%

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Sources:
Civil Service Statistics, ONS

The percentage of ethnic minority civil servants has increased by more than half since 1999, to 9.2% in 2010.

Sources:
Civil Service Statistics, ONS

 

Since 2001, the percentage of civil servants with disabilities has more than doubled, with the current level being 7.6%.

Sources: 
Civil Service Statistics, ONS
NB 2010 disability figure is as a percentage of all those with a known disability status. Before 2007 it is a percentage of all staff.

Flexible working patterns are increasingly common in the Civil Service. For example, the proportion of civil servants working part-time has increased from just over one in ten in 1999 to just over one in four in 2011.

Sources:
Civil Service Statistics, ONS
Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS

The average age of civil servants increased from 40 to 44 between 1999 and 2010.

Sources:
Civil Service Statistics, ONS

Detailed reports from 1970 onwards are available online in the Statistics archive.