The number of registered full-time workers in the public sector has risen from 47,687 in December 2018 to 53,529 in December 2024, data from the National Statistics Office shows. This means that in that time period, the public sector has grown by 12.25%.

The number of employees in the public sector is 18% of the total number of employees in Malta.

Constituted bodies have a different interpretation of these numbers, with employers' associations saying that Malta's public sector numbers should be curtailed, while Malta's largest union saying it is not bloated.

In an interview with this media house late last year, the principal permanent secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, Tony Sultana, who is effectively the head of the public sector, had described suggestion of the public sector being bloated as being an "incorrect sweeping statement".

The presidents of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Employers' Association have both spoken to The Malta Independent on Sunday in recent weeks and expressed concerns about public sector hiring.

William Spiteri Bailey, president of the Chamber, said that the public sector should be downsized and that workers should be upskilled. Spiteri Bailey described the public sector as "bloated beyond what is required" and commented that the "enormous" public sector deprives private industry of manpower.

Ivan Refalo, Malta Employers president, had told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the public sector has grown significantly over the years, and that its demand to recruit the right people oftentimes creates unhealthy competition with private employers. He added that while Malta Employers is not stating that the public sector needs to decrease in every area, there are still concerns that it is taking employees from the private sector, with "many members" of the association having reported raised such concerns.

Refalo had remarked that the association understands the need for the public sector to increase due to the increase in Malta's population, particularly regarding the increase in need for more doctors, nurses, teachers, police, and other such critical positions.

The Secretary General of the General Workers Union, Josef Bugeja, has a different view. Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, he said that he believes the public sector is not bloated or over-staffed, but expressed similar sentiments of there being a need for the upskilling of workers. Bugeja spoke in particular of Malta's growing and ageing population requiring more nurses, carers, and teachers, commenting that downsizing would be counterproductive.

Registered full-time employment as of December 2024 amounted to 291,474 workers, NSO figures show, with those having a part-time occupation as their primary job amounting to 35,204.

Meanwhile, the number of workers in the private sector with full-time employment was 237,945. This was an increase of 8,039 from the previous year, whereas the increase in the number of workers in the public sector during that same period was 1,721.

Looking at the number of registered full-time workers of 291,474, and then seeing the number of registered full-time public sector workers of 53,529, shows that as of December 2024, full-time public sector workers amounted to 18.36% of registered full-time workers.

As part of an analysis on the share of government employment in European Union member states, Eurostat stated that the term government employment encompasses civil servants and other government employees on a national, regional, and local level, as well as members of the armed forces. It added that the limits of the government sector vary across different EU nations, meaning that in some countries, jobs in the education or health sectors are considered as forming part of government employment, whereas this would not be the case in other countries.

Eurostat statistics indicated that in 2020, the highest proportions of government employment compared to total employment in the EU were observed in Sweden at 29%, Denmark at 28%, and Finland at 25%. The lowest proportions were observed in Luxembourg and Italy at 14%, the Netherlands at 12%, and Germany at 11%.

In terms of which EU member states with available data had the largest decreases in government employment between the years 2000 and 2020, Eurostat said that Malta was among the countries with the largest decreases alongside Slovakia, Cyprus, and Italy. This relative decrease is despite the public sector having grown in numbers, with the reasoning likely being that there has been a greater proportional increase in the private sector during that same period. The countries with the largest increases in government employment, according to Eurostat during that time, were Romania, Croatia, and Estonia.