Employees
12. Jul 2022
28,100 employees in June – a 2% increase on June 2021
The number of employees saw a year-on-year increase of 550 (2.0%) in June.
The growth has been limited over the last two years due to the pandemic, but the trend indicates that this growth now appears to be back on track.
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The big drop in the graph above came in April 2020, shortly after Covid-19 restrictions were introduced.
Increase in both male and female employees
The graph below shows the employee numbers for each sex. The semi-transparent lines track the employee numbers, while the solid lines show the trend.
In June, there were approx. 14,400 male employees (300 more than in June 2021) and 13,700 female (250 more than in June 2021).
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The trends in each main industrial sector
The two graphs below show the employee figures and the trends in the four main industrial sectors.
The ‘governmental and other services’ and the ‘private services’ sectors have seen steady growth. The number of employees in the ‘construction and other manufacturing’ sector has been decreasing in recent years, but the trend indicates that this decrease has come to a halt.
Employee numbers in the ‘Fishery and other natural resources’ sector fluctuate more than in the other industrial sectors, but there has been a clear increase since the bottom in 2011. The number of employees in this sector has increased from 3,500 in 2011 to about 4,100 in June 2022.
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The table below shows the employee numbers for each industry branch within the four main industrial sectors.
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Relative increase in employees with non-Danish citizenship
In June, 6.5% of employees had non-Danish citizenship, up from 5.2% in June 2021. Ten years ago, 2.5% of employees had non-Danish citizenship.
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The number of non-European employees has increased and now represents 3.2% of the total, compared with 2.3% in June 2021.
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About employees
An employee is anyone aged between 16 and 74 who earns a wage that is subject to tax at source (PAYE) and resides in the Faroe Islands at the time of wage payment. A person is regarded as an employee if he or she receives a wage payment which is no lower than a day wage for an unskilled worker, regardless of whether the wage is paid by a Faroese or an overseas company.
About the trend
The trend describes the employee trend by adjusting for seasonal effects and error components in the figures.
About the main industrial sectors
Grouped under the ‘fishery and other natural resources’ sector are the following branches: agriculture, fishing, aquaculture, extraction of raw materials, fish processing and activities not elsewhere indicated.
The ‘construction and other manufacturing’ sector includes: shipyards/machine shops, other manufacturing, construction and energy.
The ‘private services’ sector includes: trade and repair, hotels and restaurants, sea transport, other transport, communications, finance and insurance, business services. household services and organisations, culture, etc.
‘Governmental and other services’ includes: public administration and services (central administration, municipalities, education, health and social work), government institutions and the Ministries of Education and Health.