Public and semi-govt sector employment in Sri Lanka tops 1.15 million
April 29, 2025 07:34 am
The number of employees in all public and semi-government sector institutions in Sri Lanka has exceeded 1,156,018.
As per the latest data released by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), the estimated number of employees in all Public and Semi-Government Sector institutions in Sri Lanka is 1,156,018 by the year 2024. This is an increase of 46,543 compared to the 2016 census.
Among them, the proportion of employed males is 50.5%, which is slightly higher than that of females (49.5%). The majority of employees are in the central government, accounting for 59.5% of the total workforce.
However, the report further indicates that a higher proportion of females are employed in the provincial government compared to the central government. Female employees in the provincial government sector are twice as many as their male counterparts, whereas male employees in the central government semi government sector outnumber their female counterparts by more than two to one.
When comparing the public and semi-government sectors, nearly four-fifths of employees are in the public sector, as per the DCS data.
Meanwhile, the data shows that approximately 97% of these employees hold permanent positions, while only 3.7% are in non-permanent categories such as temporary, casual, or contract-based employment.
In the public sector, over 97% of employees are in permanent positions. However, the proportion of permanent employees is lower in the semi-government sector compared to the public sector.
The Department of Census and Statistics notes that approximately 32,500 employees were surveyed across all public and semi-public sector institutions for this census. However, it also clarifies that employees working in affiliated institutions under semi-public organizations were not included in the enumeration.
