Employees
20. Oct 2025
30.084 employees in September — up 500 year-on-year
Employee numbers continue to grow, but the growth has slowed down in the past years, as seen in the trend after adjusting for seasonal variations and other random changes.
In September, there were 30.084 employees in the Faroes. This is 505 (1.7%) more employees than in September 2024.
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In September, there were about 15,300 male and 14,700 female employees. This represents a year-on-year increase of 253 male and 252 female employees. Both are a growth rate of 1.7%.
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Employee numbers highest in public sector activities
Below are the number of employees in the nine largest economic activities for September 2024 and 2025. The two largest economic activities are ‘Human health and social work activities’ and ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’, both having experienced a growth in numbers. The largest increase in numbers and proportion of these nine activities is in ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ with 86 employees or 4.2%.
‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Construction’ saw a decrease of around 1% in number of employees year-on-year.
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More than half (57%) of employees work for employers under private control with the remaining (43%) for employers under public control. By sex, the distribution differs. Three-of-four men work for employers under private control, while two-of-three women work for employers under public control.
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As mentioned, 43% of employees work for employers under public control. By region, the proportions differ between 37% and 47%.
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About the employee statistics
Statistics Faroe Islands’ employee statistics include persons aged 13 or over who receive wages taxed at source (known as A-income in the Faroes) in the registered month, corresponding to at least 4 hours per month through the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax system.
Statistics on employees and jobs follow the guidelines in the International Labor Organization (ILO) manuals on employees and jobs under the United Nations. The ILO defines an employee as a person of working age who has been employed by an employer for at least a short period and has produced goods or provided services for a wage. This includes a) employed persons who have worked at least 1 hour during the period (typically set to 1 week) and b) employed persons who are temporarily out of work (due to e.g. sick leave, parental leave or time off in lieu).
The source of employee statistics is monthly A-income through the PAYE tax system. In accordance with the international standard of at least 1 hour per week, the monthly wage threshold is calculated as 4 hours of wages per employee, since there are about four weeks in a month. The hourly wage is set as minimum wage + holiday pay as per the agreement between the Faroese Labour Union and the Faroese Employers' Union. This means that if the monthly wage is below the limit, the person is not considered an employee that month. According to the Faroese Work and Safety Inspectorate, 13 is set as the lower age limit in the statistics as children younger than 13 cannot be employed.
Definitions
- "Under public control" includes "General government" + "Public corporations"
- "Under private control" includes "National Private corporations" + "Foreign controlled corporations" + "Rest of the world and not specified"