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Diversity in the civil service

The civil service is more diverse today than it has ever been. But there is still more work to be done.

Civil servants in Whitehall
The latest Civil Service Statistics release reveals some interesting trends in the diversity of the civil service.

The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for 2022 to 2025 states that “a truly diverse workforce and culture of openness and inclusivity [act as] a means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve”. But how diverse is the civil service currently?

Three key arguments have been made as to why increasing diversity in the civil service is important:

  • Talent and performance. Failing to reach different demographic groups can lead to missing out on attracting and appointing the best people for the job.
  • Diversity of ideas. Attracting people from different backgrounds is likely to improve the quality of work by bringing forward new ideas, perspectives and ways of working.
  • Trust and reputation. A civil service that reflects the society it serves is more likely to be trusted by the wider public.

The civil service has become more diverse in terms of key ‘protected characteristics’ – gender, ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, faith and age – though progress in some areas has been faster than in others.

Three line graphs from the Institute for Government showing the share of female, minority ethnic and disabled staff in the civil service, 2000–24, where the share of female staff is above the population benchmark throughout the entire period, while the share of senior civil servants that are female has only recently reached levels comparable to the economically active population. The share of minority ethnic and disabled staff in the whole civil service has broadly tracked the population benchmark.

Disparities also persist in the workplace experiences of civil servants with different demographic characteristics, for example socio-economic background (SEB), while data from the Civil Service People Survey (2023) shows that certain staff groups have markedly more negative experiences than others. 

 

Gender

In every year since 2001, more than half of all civil servants have been female: the proportion was 54.5% in 2024. Women make up a higher percentage of junior grades than they do of more senior grades, but the proportion of female staff in the senior civil service (SCS) increased substantially between 1997 (17.7%) and 2024 (48.2%), now lying just below the population benchmark for the economically active population (48.8%). 41 Population benchmarks are calculated using ONS data on the economically active population. For more details, refer to the Methodology section of Whitehall Monitor 2025, available at https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2025/methodology.  At all other grades, the proportion of female employees exceeds the population benchmark. 

The proportion of permanent secretaries who are women has also steadily risen – although there has not yet been a female cabinet secretary. As of January 2025, out of the 16 Whitehall departments with a permanent secretary, half were run by women. 42 This figure excludes DHSC, which – as of January 2025 – had Sir Chris Whitty as acting permanent secretary.  

A bar chart from the Institute for Government showing the gender of permanent secretaries in ministerial departments, 2005–25, where eight of 16 head of department permanent secretaries were women in January 2025, a higher proportion that at any other time since 2005.

In 2017, the Civil Service People Survey 43 Cabinet Office, Civil Service People Survey: 2023 results, 29 August 2024, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2023-results  started collecting data on gender identity. In 2023, the year for which the latest CSPS data is available, about 0.2% of respondents identified as neither male nor female and about 0.5% identified as ‘transgender/other’. The data also showed transgender civil servants were substantially more likely to say that they have been bullied or harassed at work (17.4%) than cisgender civil servants (8.3%). 

The share of transgender staff declaring they have experienced bullying and harassment declined significantly between 2018 and 2020 (from 23% to 14.6%), possibly related to the release in late 2018 of the Bullying, Harassment and Misconduct Review, 44 Cabinet Office, Bullying, Harassment and Misconduct Review, 2 October 2018, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bullying-harassment-and-misconduct-review  but there was a slight uptick in the problem in 2023.

Ethnicity

Ethnic diversity in the whole civil service has closely tracked that of the economically active population, increasing from 9.2% in 2010 to 16.6% in 2024. 

The SCS has more than doubled its proportion of minority ethnic staff from 5% in 2010 to 10.7% in 2024, although this is below the population benchmark of economically active adults; indeed, the executive officer (EO) grade is the only grade in which minority ethnic staff are better represented.

A bar chart from the Institute for Government showing ethnic minority staff in the civil service by department, 2024, where the share of minority ethnic staff is above the UK population benchmark in 9 departmental groups.

Representation also varies by department. In 2024, DESNZ had the highest share of minority ethnic staff, at just over a quarter (25.8%), followed by the Treasury and DHSC (both at 25.4%). The MoD was the least diverse (7%), followed by DfT (11.6%). 

Ethnic background also shapes civil servants’ perceptions of and experiences in the workplace. Civil servants from all minority ethnic categories were more likely to say they were bullied or harassed in the past 12 months than both the average civil servant and White civil servants. In 2023, almost one in ten of Black (9.5%) and Asian (9.7%) of Asian civil servants said they had been bullied or harassed in the previous year, compared to 7.8% of White civil servants. The figures for civil servants belonging to the ‘Mixed’ and ‘Other ethnicity’ categories were higher – 11.4% and 13.6% respectively. 

Nonetheless, the figures for all ethnicity categories are lower now than they were 10 years ago. The most substantial decrease in reported rates of bullying and harassment occurred between 2019 and 2020, again possibly related to the Bullying, Harassment and Misconduct Review.

In 2023, the ethnic group with the lowest engagement index score, 46 The civil service employee engagement index is the headline measure in the Civil Service People Survey. According to the Cabinet Office, it measures ‘how proud staff feel in working for their organisation, whether they would recommend their organisation as a great place to work, whether they feel a strong personal attachment to it, and whether they feel their organisation inspires and motivates them to do the best in their job and achieve their organisation’s objective’.  according to Civil Service People Survey data, was ‘White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller’, at 53.4, significantly lower than the mean for all minority ethnic civil servants, at 66.4.

Disability

The representation of people with a disability in the civil service has increased substantially since 2010, more than doubling from 7.6% to 16.9% in 2024. This remains slightly below the UK population benchmark, which has also been on an upward trajectory, reaching 18.1% in 2024.

In 2024, only the share of disabled staff at EO level (19.2%) was above the population benchmark. The SCS was furthest below the population benchmark, with 10.8% of staff identifying as disabled. Representation also varies by department.  In 2024, only two departments – DWP and the Cabinet Office – surpassed the UK population benchmark in terms of disabled representation. The departments with the lowest share of disabled staff were DfT, at 11.4%, and DCMS, at 11.5%. 

A bar chart from the Institute for Government showing disabled staff in the civil service by department, 2024, where the share of disabled staff is above the population benchmark in only two out of 17 departments – DWP and the Cabinet Office.

Disabled representation in the civil service fast stream has been higher than in the civil service as a whole in recent years: in 2024, the share of successful applicants who are disabled was above the UK population benchmark.

Sexual orientation

LGB+ representation 48 The Cabinet Office invites civil servants to record their sexual orientation as ‘Heterosexual/straight’, ‘Gay or Lesbian’, ‘Bisexual’ or ‘Other’. Our use of the term LGB+ refers to staff who report belonging to one of the last three groups. The term ‘LGBT+’ is not used because this data refers only to sexual orientation. The civil service records data on gender identity separately.  in the civil service has been on an upward trajectory, climbing from 3.8% of staff identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual and other in 2016 (the earliest data available) to 6.9% in 2024. In all years for which robust data is available on the share of the total UK population identifying as LGB+, the civil service is above the population benchmark. 

These figures are higher in the senior civil service (SCS), where 7.1% of staff are LGB+, up from 5.3% in 2016. Unlike for staff with disabilities, those from a minority ethnic background or female civil servants, LGB+ civil servants make up a higher proportion of the SCS than the whole civil service – although that gap has narrowed over time. 

A bar chart from the Institute for Government showing LGB+ staff in the civil service by department, 2024, where the share of LGB+ staff is above the population benchmark in all departments bar the MoD.

In 2024, the share of staff identifying as LGB+ was higher in all departments bar the MoD than in the general population (5% according to the latest available data from the ONS). The highest proportion was found in DCMS, at 14%, followed by DESNZ, at 11.2%. MoD had the lowest proportion of LGB+ staff, at 4%.  

Socio-economic background

Extrapolating from data from the annual Civil Service People Survey, we can infer 50 For more details on how we handle socio-economic background data from the Civil Service People Survey, refer to the Methodology section of our latest Whitehall Monitor report.  that a majority of civil servants come from high socio-economic backgrounds. The figure has remained stable over the last few years, at slightly above 50%. About a third of civil servants are from low socio-economic backgrounds. Those from high socio-economic backgrounds make up a plurality of staff at all civil service grades, but the pattern is starker at more senior grades. Over two thirds of the SCS (70% in 2023) come from a high socio-economic background.  

Faith

The breakdown of civil servants by faith, belief or religion has changed over the past few years. The most significant change in absolute terms is the increase in the number of civil servants who say they have no religion – from 92,690 in 2019 (20.8% of total staff numbers) 52 The figure is calculated as a share of total staff, including those whose faith is unknown (‘not declared’ or ‘not reported’)  to 168,870 in 2024 (31.1%). In 2024, ‘no religion’ became the largest single faith category in the civil service, surpassing Christianity for the first time.

Faith also varies by department. In 2024, the largest share of civil servants declaring no religious affiliation was found in the Cabinet Office, at 43.4%, whilst the lowest share was found in the Treasury (19.7%).

Age

Since 2010, the largest proportional increase for any age bracket in the civil service has been for over 60s, which grew from accounting for just 6.5% of the civil service workforce in 2010 to 11.3% in 2024. The largest decrease occurred in the 40-49 bracket, which went from making up 32.7% of civil service staff in 2010 to 22.8% in 2024. 

Since 2016, there has also been a steady increase, both absolutely and proportionally, in the number of officials under 40, which made up 40% of the civil service in 2024. These shifts suggest that the overall surge in civil service staff numbers since 2016 has been at least in part driven by increased recruitment of younger talent.
 

Changes in the age profile of civil servants have also varied by department. Between 2010 and 2024, the median age of a civil servant in DWP increased by five years. The Cabinet Office lies at the other end of the spectrum – the median age of a civil servant there decreased by five years in the same period. The Treasury is by far the youngest department in Whitehall, with a median age of 36 years old.

What has the civil service done to improve diversity?

The civil service has sought to improve diversity in a variety of ways, including by:

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