Insee Première · March 2022 · n° 1897

In 2020, employment continued to increase in the French civil service, especially in the hospital civil service

At the end of 2020, 5.7 million persons worked in the French civil service, 33,900 more than a year earlier (+0.6%), a stronger rise than in 2019 (+0.3%). Employment increased significantly in the hospital civil service (+1.8%) and to a lesser extent in the state civil service (+0.8%), but fell in the local civil service (−0.4%). Excluding subsidised contracts, workforce increased by 50,100 employed persons. Converted to full-time equivalents, annual employment including subsidised contracts was almost stable (+0.1%).

The number of civil servants, which represented 67% of public employees, fell by 0.6% in 2020, while the number of contract workers rose by 6.3%. The higher increase in public employment in 2020 was explained by a slight decrease in exits, while entries were almost stable. The decrease in exits mainly concerned contract workers and subsidised contract beneficiaries.

The proportion of employed persons present in the French civil service for only part of the year fell, except in the hospital civil service.