Civil Service pay
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- in 2023, the median annual pay for all civil servants was £31,920 – this figure is based on the annual pay of all civil servants, including those whose ethnicity was not known, and includes pay-related allowances (such as regional and skills allowances) but not bonuses
- civil servants from the 'other' ethnic group had the highest median annual pay (£34,170)
- Asian (£31,280) civil servants had the lowest median annual pay
- black civil servants had among the highest median annual pay out of all ethnic groups at junior grades (AA, AO and EO)
- out of all regions, the biggest difference in pay between ethnic groups was in London – pay was highest for white civil servants (£45,010) and lowest for black civil servants (£32,960)
- out of all grades, the biggest difference in pay between ethnic groups was at Senior Civil Service level (the most senior grades) – pay was highest for Asian civil servants (£86,460) and lowest for those in the mixed ethnic group (£81,600)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the median annual pay for civil servants from different ethnic groups.
The median is the middle point of a range of numbers which are arranged in order from highest to lowest.
Data on civil servants’ pay is taken on 31 March every year.
There are 2 measures of the senior Civil Service:
- 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 the diversity of the Senior Civil Service
Annual pay is rounded to the nearest £100 for 2015 to 2018, and the nearest £10 for 2019 to 2023. Numbers of civil servants are rounded to the nearest 10 people for 2015 to 2022, and to the nearest 5 for 2023. Data from 2015 to 2018 is not included in this page but is available in the data file.
Not included in the data
The data does not include people working for:
- the NHS
- non-departmental public bodies
- 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 people are not shown. Zero responses and salaries for less than 30 civil servants have been suppressed for GDPR special category data (more information is available in the detailed methodology document for this data). This is to protect people’s confidentiality, and because the numbers are too small to make reliable generalisations. These values are shown as ‘!’ in the data file.
The ethnic groups used in this data
Data is shown for the following 5 ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- 'other'
This is because the number of people surveyed was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 19 ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census.
Before 2022, civil servants who identified as Chinese were in a separate Chinese ethnic group. Since 2022, they have been grouped under the ‘Asian’ ethnic group – this may affect comparisons with previous years.
19% of civil servants did not report their ethnicity in 2023. The overall figures include civil servants whose ethnicity was not known.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
The data includes all Civil Service staff working in the UK and those on Civil Service contracts located overseas on a specific date (31 March 2023) and not throughout the whole year. It was collected as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey.
As at 31 March 2023, the total number of Civil Service employees was 519,780 (487,665 full-time staff). You can see data on ethnic diversity in the Civil Service workforce.
In the data file
Download the data for breakdowns that include 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 |
| 2019 | 27,210 | 23,190 | 28,450 | 11,990 | 29,550 | 1,080 | 29,590 | 6,140 | 27,210 | 304,850 | 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 | N/A* | N/A* | 31,170 | 9,170 | 30,130 | 354,830 | 31,880 | 2,650 |
| 2023 | 31,280 | 35,355 | 32,520 | 17,290 | N/A* | N/A* | 32,790 | 9,720 | 32,080 | 358,340 | 34,170 | 2,825 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
4. Data sources
Source
Civil Service Statistics: 2023
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Cabinet Office
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Civil Service Statistics presents detailed information on the UK Civil Service workforce as at 31 March 2023, including on pay, diversity and location.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, employment status, time, time_type, age, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, geography, geography_type, gender, grade, headcount, value (GBP £), value_type