Press release 18/12/2024

DIRECTORY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS. 01/01/2024

The Basque Public Administrations employed 149,104 people on 1 January 2024, 1.5% more than the previous year

The number of civil servants increased by 4.5%, accounting for 64.6% of the total

The Basque Public Administrations (without taking into account personnel working in the State Administration and the Social Security System) had 149,104 employees on 1 January 2024, according to Eustat data. The number of staff employed in the Basque Administrations rose by 1.5% in respect of the previous year.

In the structure of employed people by sex in the Basque Administration in 2024, female employees (95,747) accounted for 64.2% of the total, with an increase of 4 tenths compared to the figures for 2023. Meanwhile, the number of men (53,357) represented 35.8%, 4 tenths down on the previous year. Between 2019 and 2024, the proportion of women in the Administration has grown by 8.7%.

The feminisation rate in each of the administrations exceeded 50%; the Basque Government stood out with a rate of 70.2%, followed by the Provincial Councils, where it reached 60%. Ten points behind were Local Entities, where the ratio of men and women was almost the same: 50.1% men to 49.9% women.

Structure in Basque Public Administrations according to the regulatory framework

On 1 January 2024, civil servants made up 64.6% of the total number of people employed in the Basque Public Administrations, 1.9 percentage points more than the previous year, following a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, while staff accounted for 34.5%, in both cases including statutory personnel of the Osakidetza (the Basque Health Service). The remaining 0.9% corresponded to senior positions.

As regards the term of employment, 57.2% of employees were classified as permanent, including permanent civil servants, permanent staff and permanent statutory personnel.

Interim civil servants represented 20.3%, a similar percentage to the previous year, with a rise of 1.6%. This upward trend in the percentage of interim civil servants was not seen in all the Basque Administrations: on one hand, the Provincial Councils and Local Entities and their dependent bodies posted positive performances, with an increase of 7.2% and 5.8%, respectively, while on the other hand, the Basque Government and its dependent bodies and Other Public Bodies posted decreases of 0.8% and 1.7% respectively.

Meanwhile, the proportion of temporary staff continued to decrease compared to the previous year to stand at 21.6%, a drop of 8.3%. This trend occurred in all the administrations. The Provincial Councils and their dependent bodies stood out with a decrease of 12.7%, followed by the Basque Government and its dependent bodies with -9.7%. Local Entities and their dependent bodies and Other Public Bodies also posted a decrease, albeit more moderate, with drops of 3% and 4.9% respectively.

As a whole, interim civil servants and temporary staff accounted for 41.9% of the total on 1 January 2024, with a decrease of 3.7%.

Distribution of personnel by type of administration in question

Of the 149,104 people employed by the Basque Administration on 1 January 2024, 65.6% worked for the Administration of the Autonomous Community, 18.6% worked for Local Entities, 8.5% worked for Provincial Councils and the remaining 7.3% were employed by the University, Foundations and other Public Bodies. In the last year, the highest growth in the number of employees was seen in the Provincial Councils, with 3.2%, followed by the Basque Government and Local Entities and their dependent bodies, with an increase of 1.7% and 1.6% respectively. Other Public Bodies saw a decrease of 3.1% compared to the previous year.

Looking at the evolution of the average annual number of staff in relation to 2018, the number of people working in the Basque Administrations increased by 10,920, with an average cumulative rate of 1.3%. In absolute values, the Basque Government, together with all its dependent entities, increased staff numbers by 8,086 people, with an average cumulative variation of 1.5%. Local Entities came in second place with regard to growth in absolute terms, with 1,342 more people and an average cumulative variation rate of 0.8%. The Provincial Councils occupied third place, with 1,062 more people and an average cumulative rate of 1.5%. Lastly, there was the group referred to as Other Public Bodies, which includes the University of the Basque Country, Foundations and Public Associations, among others, with an annual increase of 0.7% and 430 more people.

With regard to the previous year, the average number of staff working in the Basque Public Administrations in 2023 grew by 1.1%, a rate lower than the cumulative average for the period in question. Of particular note was the 4.2% growth in personnel working for the Provincial Councils and their dependent bodies.

Distribution of personnel by province in question

By province, there were hardly any changes in terms of distribution. Bizkaia accounted for 49% of the total number of employed people, followed by Gipuzkoa, with 29.6%, and finally Álava, with the remaining 21.4%, a distribution with very little change compared to the previous year.

Methodological note: The Directory of Public Administrations comprises the General Administration of the Basque Country, Provincial Councils and City Councils, together with the Autonomous Administrative Bodies, Public Entities, Public Companies and non-profit Foundations and Institutions that depend on these. All entities whose public stake is equal to or greater than 50% are included, whether that stake be held by a single administration or jointly by various public administrations.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62