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Public Employment

Public Sector, according to Encyclopedia Britannica is the portion of the economy composed of all levels of government and government controlled enterprises and excludes private companies, voluntary organizations and households.

Public sector therefore includes public goods and government services such as public education, health care, police, military, physical infrastructure and those who are work for the government. Rather than its mere functions as a service provider, Public sector represents government ownership and control on matters such as exercising public authority and the implementation of public policy. Public enterprises on the other hand are self-financing commercial enterprises which are owned by the government and operate on a commercial basis and provide private goods and services for sale.

To fulfill the social and economic responsibilities entrusted upon the public sector, governments throughout the world employ people directly in the sector.

The first scientific Census on public and Semi government sector employment was carried out in 1980 in order to cater to the requirements of data on the Public and Semi government sector for planning and monitoring purposes of government employees and the institutions in which they work.

Department of Census and Statistics being the National Statistical Office responsible for providing official statistics required for policy formulation and government planning purposes has been followed the basic principles of census taking for conducting its maiden scientific census in 1980. While the public sector compromised of employees in Ministries, Departments and all other agencies coming directly under the Government Administration, the Corporation sector covered all employees in state owned Cooperations and other statutory bodies. Subsequent to that, censuses were carried out in 1985, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 at a quite similar frequency of 4 to 5 years.

Before 1980, Ministry of Public Administration had been instrumental in conducting censuses in 1968, 1972 and 1976 with the technical assistance of the Department of Census and Statistics; they covered only the public sector and was just a head count based on their payroll. However, results of the 1976 census have not been published due to under coverage observed in the enumeration. Previous records revealed that the number employed in the Public sector prior to 1968 was also collected from respective Ministries by the Department of Census and Statistics.



Department of Census & Statistics,
"Sankayana Mandiraya",
No. 306/71,
Polduwa Road,
Battaramulla.
Census ReportsStatistical Tables in Census 2016 Final ReportAdditional Statistical TablesBulletins related to Employment StatisticsQuestionnaires used in the Employment CensusesCensus2024 Materials

Statistical tables in Census 2016 Final Report


Table 1.1 Public and semi government sector employees in census years 1968-2016
Table 2.1 Major institutions and census units covered at the census 2016
Table 2.2 Major institutions and census units of central government sector covered at the census 2016
Table 2.3 Major institutions and census units of provincial councils covered at the census 2016
Table 2.4 Some important types of institutions covered at the census by type of the institution and sector of the institution 2016
Table 2.5 Distribution of selected institutions/census units covered at the census by administrative district (administration/local government and education sectors) 2016
Table 2.6 Distribution of Selected institutions/census units covered at the census by administrative district (health, agriculture and law & order sectors) 2016
Table 3.1 Central government and provincial council institutions and their employees 2016
Table 3.2 Line ministries with more than 10,000 employees in both public and semi government sectors 2016
Table 3.3 Line ministries with less than 10,000 employees in both public and semi government sectors 2016
Table 3.4 Employees in provincial councils in both public and semi government sectors by sex 2016
Table 3.5 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, age group and sex 2016
Table 3.6 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, ethnicity and sex 2016
Table 3.7 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, religion and sex 2016
Table 3.8 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, marital status and sex 2016
Table 3.9 Distribution of employees by nature of appointment and sex 2016
Table 3.10 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, highest level of education and sex 2016
Table 3.11 Distribution of employees by discipline of basic degree and sex 2016
Table 3.12 Distribution employees by major occupation group and sex 2016
Table 3.13 Distribution of employees by professional/vocational qualification group and sex 2016
Table 3.14 Distribution of employees by level of language proficiency 2016
Table 3.15 Distribution of employees by district of place of work, sector of employment and sex 2016
Table 3.16 Distribution of employees by Divisional Secretariat (DS) division of place of work and sex 2016
Table 3.17 Distribution of employees by major mode of travel, sector of employment and sex 2016
Table 3.18 Distribution of employees suffering from selected non-communicable diseases by sector of employment and sex 2016
Table 3.19 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, their ability to use computer and sex 2016
Table 3.20 Distribution of employees using internet by place of access and sex 2016
Table 3.21 Distribution of employees using email to exchange information by purpose of using and sex 2016
Table 1 Distribution of employees by sector of employment and sex 2016
Table 1A Distribution of employees by sector of employment and sex 2016
Table 2 Distribution of employees by institution and sex 2016
Table 3 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, age and sex 2016
Table 4 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, ethnic group and sex 2016
Table 5 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, age and ethnic group 2016
Table 6 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, religion and sex 2016
Table 7 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, age and religion 2016
Table 8 Distribution of employees by marital status, sex and age 2016
Table 9 Distribution of employees in central government public sector by marital status, sex and age 2016
Table 10 Distribution of employees in provincial public sector by marital status, sex and age 2016
Table 11 Distribution of employees in semi government sector by marital status, sex and age 2016
Table 12 Distribution of currently married employees by sector of employment, sex and spouse's activity 2016
Table 13 Distribution of employees by age and nature of appointment 2016
Table 14 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, sex and level of education 2016
Table 15 Distribution of employees in central government public sector by age, sex and highest level of education 2016
Table 16 Distribution of employees in provincial public sector by age, sex and highest level of education 2016
Table 17 Distribution of employees in semi government sector by age, sex and highest level of education 2016
Table 18 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, major occupation group and highest level of education 2016
Table 19 Distribution of employees with a basic degree by the field of degree and sector of employment 2016
Table 20 Distribution of employees by sector of employment, major occupation group and sex 2016
Table 21 Distribution of employees by province/district of place of work and sex 2016
Table 22 Distribution of employees by district of permanent residence and sector of employment 2016
Table 23 Distribution of employees by district of place of work and district of permanent residence 2016
Table 24 Distribution of employees by major mode of travel and sector of employment 2016
Table 25 Distribution of employees by mode of travel and sector of employment 2016
Table 26 Distribution of employees by mode of travel and sex 2016
Table 27 Distribution of employees suffering from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) by sex and age 2016
Table 28 Distribution of employees suffering from at least one non-communicable diseases by sex and age 2016
Table 29 Distribution of employees by age, sex, sector of employment and ability to use a computer 2016
Table 30 Distribution of employees by age, sex, sector of employment and using computer for official purposes 2016
Table 31 Distribution of employees by age, sex, sector of employment and internet use 2016