The increase in public employment, at rates that—proportionately—surpass those of the private sector, is a trend that has been repeated quarter after quarter since the end of the pandemic. Less well-known, however, is the intensity with which this boom is manifesting in the government subsector corresponding to state-owned enterprises and related institutions. This category, as explained by the newspaper El Economista, already brings together 198,500 workers. Nearly 200,000 wage earners. This represents its highest level in more than twenty years within the current historical series.
This is reflected in the most exhaustive record of its evolution, provided by the National Statistics Institute (INE), with data closed in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Its absolute number may seem small in proportion to the more than three million public employees (civil servants and contracted staff) currently active in Spain, but it is worth looking at its percentage evolution.
Thus, of all the branches that make up the public sector, state-owned enterprises are the ones increasing their staff with the greatest intensity. Between 2024 and 2026, their growth exceeded 20%; in just one year, between the first quarter of 2025 and the same period in 2026, it was nearly 11%. During that time, the headcounts of state agencies (always excluding those of a business nature) grew by less than 7%. In the case of autonomous communities, the year-on-year increase drops to 3.8%, while for local entities (city councils, provincial councils, and island councils) the increase is under one percentage point.
