Civil Service
← Back
The civil service, by department
398,785 civil servants across 20 of the 24 ministerial departments, as at June 2026. The five largest employers account for 79% of them.
Figures are rounded to the nearest five. They count civil servants only. They do not include armed forces personnel (in MoD), NHS staff (in DHSC) or police officers (in the Home Office).
- 01Ministry of Justice98,340↑ 1.3%
- 02Department for Work and Pensions94,830↓ 0.9%
- 03Ministry of Defence56,185↓ 1.0%
- 04Home Office50,220↓ 0.3%
- 05Department for Transport16,370↓ 0.8%
- 06Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs13,215↑ 1.3%
- 07Attorney General's Office12,335↑ 1.1%
- 08Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade11,160↓ 2.9%
- 09Department of Health and Social Care10,365
- 10Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office8,635↓ 0.9%
- 11Department for Education7,570↓ 5.7%
- 12Cabinet Office5,240↓ 2.7%
- 13Department for Energy Security and Net Zero4,830
- 14Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government4,825↓ 1.5%
- 15HM Treasury2,650↓ 4.7%
- 16Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport1,125↓ 0.4%
- 17UK Export Finance585↑ 1.7%
- 18Scotland Office135↓ 7.1%
- 19Northern Ireland Office125↓ 3.9%
- 20Wales Office45
Not separately reported
The following ministerial departments either roll up into a larger ONS aggregate (e.g. the Attorney General's family) or sit inside the Cabinet Office cluster and are not separately broken out in Table 8.
- Office of the Leader of the House of CommonsNot separately reported in ONS Public Sector Employment Table 8.
- Office of the Leader of the House of LordsNot separately reported in ONS Public Sector Employment Table 8.
- Office of the Advocate General for ScotlandNot separately reported in ONS Public Sector Employment Table 8.
Civil service staffing last updated 15 October 2026. Source: Cabinet Office workforce data.