1. Main facts and figures
- in 2022, the average (median) annual pay for all civil servants was £30,110 – this figure is based on the annual pay of all civil servants, including the 18% of the workforce whose ethnicity was not known, and includes pay-related allowances, such as regional and skills allowances, but not bonuses
- Asian (£29,500) and white (£30,130) civil servants had the lowest average annual pay, followed by black civil servants (£31,060) and those from mixed ethnic backgrounds (£31,170)
- civil servants from the 'other' ethnic group had the highest average annual pay (£31,880)
- black civil servants had among the highest average annual pay out of all ethnic groups at junior grades (AA, AO and EO) – Asian civil servants had among the lowest annual pay at these grades
- comparing across regions, Asian civil servants had lower average annual pay than white civil servants in every region except the South West, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber
- the biggest differences in average annual pay between ethnic groups were among civil servants at Senior Civil Service level (the most senior grades) – pay was highest for Asian civil servants (£85,000) and lowest for those in the mixed ethnic group (£78,630)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the average annual pay for all civil servants from different ethnic groups. It also shows data by grade, region and relative pay.
Data on numbers of staff and their pay is taken on 31 March every year.
The data shows the actual number of staff employed by the Civil Service (known as ‘headcount’) regardless of whether they work full time or part time.
There are 2 measures of the senior Civil Service available:
- the Senior Civil Service
- ‘SCS Level’, which also includes some senior professionals in health, military and diplomatic roles
The data uses the ‘SCS Level’ measure. As a result, figures may be different to those used for monitoring diversity of the Senior Civil Service.
Annual pay is rounded to the nearest pound. Average pay for every £1 paid to white civil servants is rounded to the nearest pence.
Not included in the data
The data does not include people working for:
- the NHS
- non-departmental public bodies
- the Civil Service abroad
- the Northern Ireland Civil Service, which supports the devolved government in Northern Ireland
- central government in security posts
It also excludes people:
- not on the payroll, such as contractors
- not paid during the period covered, such as staff taking unpaid leave
Values based on fewer than 5 responses have not been included in the data, both:
- to protect people’s confidentiality
- because the numbers are too small to make any reliable conclusions
The ethnic groups used in this data
Data is shown for the following 5 ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- 'other'
These groups were chosen to keep them at a size where estimates are reliable.
18% of civil servants did not report their ethnicity in 2022. The overall figures include civil servants whose ethnicity was not known.
Data for the Chinese ethnic group was shown separately until 2021 and is included within the Asian ethnic group from 2022 onwards.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
The data includes all Civil Service staff working in the UK on a specific date (31 March 2022) and not throughout the whole year. It was collected as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey, which counts how many people are employed in the Civil Service and how diverse the workforce is.
As at 31 March 2022, the total number of Civil Service employees was 510,080 (478,090 full-time staff).
In the data file
Download the data for breakdowns by grade and area, and civil servants joining and leaving the Civil Service.
3. By ethnicity over time
| Asian | Black | Chinese | Mixed | White | Other | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Asian £ | Asian Headcount | Black £ | Black Headcount | Chinese £ | Chinese Headcount | Mixed £ | Mixed Headcount | White £ | White Headcount | Other £ | Other Headcount |
| 2015 | 24,700 | 18,560 | 26,000 | 10,210 | 26,600 | 890 | 26,400 | 4,410 | 25,000 | 305,550 | 27,800 | 2,040 |
| 2016 | 25,000 | 18,690 | 26,500 | 9,950 | 27,200 | 880 | 27,000 | 4,460 | 25,600 | 284,140 | 28,000 | 1,710 |
| 2017 | 25,600 | 19,780 | 26,900 | 10,230 | 27,400 | 910 | 27,500 | 4,740 | 26,000 | 283,740 | 28,500 | 1,750 |
| 2018 | 26,700 | 20,470 | 27,500 | 10,350 | 28,600 | 960 | 28,500 | 4,950 | 26,800 | 283,300 | 29,100 | 1,740 |
| 2019 | 27,200 | 23,170 | 28,400 | 11,970 | 29,500 | 1,080 | 29,600 | 6,140 | 27,200 | 304,430 | 30,000 | 1,980 |
| 2020 | 28,010 | 25,870 | 29,560 | 12,800 | 30,880 | 1,110 | 30,820 | 6,800 | 28,150 | 320,580 | 30,730 | 2,230 |
| 2021 | 29,080 | 29,160 | 30,690 | 15,600 | 32,300 | 1,250 | 31,060 | 8,260 | 29,040 | 340,400 | 31,790 | 2,590 |
| 2022 | 29,500 | 33,650 | 31,060 | 17,080 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 31,170 | 9,170 | 30,130 | 354,830 | 31,880 | 2,650 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
4. Data sources
Source
Annual Civil Service Employment Survey 2022
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Cabinet Office
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES) measures the number of civil servants and diversity across the workforce.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, time, employment status, geography, grade, age, gender, ethnicity, value (GBP £), headcount