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Employment in the Oil and Gas Industry
Key Findings
Employment in the Oil and Gas sector in the UK and Scotland, including indirect employment, decreased between 2013 and 2020 before stabilising somewhat between 2021 and 2023 (Fig. 1). Employment figures for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire have only been available since 2019 - these show stability between 2019 and 2023 (Fig. 1).
The vast majority of oil and gas jobs in Scotland are in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. 40,000 people travelled to work offshore last year - 52% work in Central North Sea, 11% in North North Sea, 9% in Southern North Sea, 3% in Irish Sea. 24% of workers travel to multiple sectors. Around half of the workers are ‘core’ meaning they spend greater than 100days offshore/year.
Information on this topic together with readable explanation can be found at Scottish Energy Statistical Hubs Oil and Gas section.
Figure 1: Taken from Data on the Scottish Energy Statistics Hub
Notes
None
Linked Information Sheets
Key sources of Information
Reviewed on/by
20/11/23 by Ian Hay
13/03/25 by Charlotte Tomlinson
Status
Live - Next update 13/03/2026
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