Public servants’ remuneration totalled $3.1 billion, half of all Government expenditure, between 2020 and 2024

The report “Public Servants’ Remuneration, 2020–2024” was published by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) today. The public interest report presents information about the remuneration of the public service, which includes all civil servants and employees of statutory authorities and government companies (SAGCs), for the five years 2020 to 2024.

The report states that public service remuneration amounted to $3.1 billion over the five years 2020 to 2024. It ranged between 46 per cent and 51 per cent of annual government expenditure over the five years, accounting for 49 per cent of government expenditure during this period.

Patrick Smith, the Auditor General, says, “The Government’s expenditure on public servants’ remuneration is significant. Therefore, I prepared this report to provide independent information and improve transparency regarding this expenditure.” Mr. Smith continues, “The Government’s salary scales included in this report are already in the public domain, as is much of the information.”

The report highlights the following about public servants and their remuneration between 2020 and 2024:

• The Government spent $3.1 billion on public servants’ remuneration over the five years. Of this, $1.9 billion (61 per cent) relates to civil servants’ remuneration. The remaining $1.2 billion (39 per cent) relates to the remuneration of SAGC employees.
• The top four categories of remuneration – salaries and wages, healthcare, pension and overtime – accounted for $2.9 billion, or 96 per cent of the total remuneration.
• Public servants’ remuneration increased by 37 per cent over the five years, from $521 million in 2020 to $712 million in 2024.
• The number of public servants increased by 14 per cent over the period, from about 6,900 in 2020 to about 7,900 in 2024.
• The average remuneration of public servants increased by 19 per cent from about $76,000 in 2020 to about $90,000 in 2024.
• The 19 per cent increase in the average remuneration of public servants is less than the price increases due to inflation of 22 per cent over the same period.
• Between 2020 and 2024, the Government awarded two cost-of-living salary adjustments (COLAs) to public servants, cumulatively increasing their remuneration by about 10 per cent. With effect from January 2025, the Government awarded another 5 per cent COLA to all public servants.

The report also sets out the remuneration of civil servants and SAGC employees in separate chapters. It highlights the following about civil servants’ remuneration between 2020 and 2024:

• The Government spent $1.9 billion on civil servants’ remuneration.
• Five categories of remuneration – salaries and wages, healthcare, pension, overtime and duty allowance – accounted for $1.8 billion, or 97 per cent of total civil service remuneration.
• Civil servants’ remuneration increased by 34 per cent from $319 million in 2020 to $427 million in 2024.
• The number of civil servants increased by 13 per cent from about 4,300 to 4,800.
• The average remuneration of civil servants increased from about $75,000 in 2020 to about $88,000 in 2024, an 18 per cent increase.

The report highlights the following about the remuneration of employees of SAGCs between 2020 and 2024:

• The Government spent $1.2 billion on remuneration for SAGC employees.
• Five categories of remuneration – salaries and wages, healthcare, pension, overtime and special allowances – accounted for 97 per cent of the $1.2 billion total.
• SAGC employees’ remuneration increased by 41 per cent from $202 million in 2020 to $285 million in 2024.
• The number of SAGC employees increased by 16 per cent from about 2,600 to 3,100 over the five years.
• The average remuneration increased by 21 per cent, from about $77,000 in 2020 to about $93,000 in 2024.

The Auditor General adds, “The public sector relies on its staff to deliver services. It is not surprising, therefore, that around half of all public sector expenditure is on staff remuneration costs.”  Mr. Smith adds, “Over the five years 2020 to 2024, the Government spent around $3.1 billion on staff costs, including salaries, pension, healthcare and other costs.” Mr. Smith continues, “Over the five years, remuneration costs for the public sector increased by 37 per cent. A growing number of public servants drives part of the increase, and some relates to cost-of-living awards to keep salaries better in line with inflation.”

The report also highlights that the Government owed about $2.8 billion in liabilities for defined benefit pensions and post-retirement healthcare for current and former public servants as at 31 December 2024.

More information about the report can be obtained by contacting Angela Cullen, Acting Auditor General (Performance Audit) at (345) 922-3220. 

This report and the original OAG reports on which this report is based are available at www.auditorgeneral.gov.ky. 

Notes to the editor:

1. Public interest reports (PIRs) consider issues that the OAG has identified during an audit or on which a report has been requested during the year. The OAG also uses PIRs when a matter they determine to be of public interest would benefit from being reported but a full audit is not required. In general, these reports are responsive and provide factual information relevant to an individual entity or a wider section of the public service.
2. Unlike performance or financial statements audit reports, PIRs do not seek to provide an opinion or recommendations based on the reported details. Instead, they aim to provide greater emphasis on a matter deemed to be of interest to the public. A public interest report aims to add value by providing information for decision-making and providing accountability through greater transparency. The nature of the work conducted is focused on reporting information rather than following the auditing standards required for the conduct of a performance or financial audit. 
3. This report presents information about public servants’ remuneration for the five years 2020 to 2024. The OAG used information in audited financial statements for these years. However, the audits of some public bodies for some of these years had not been completed as at 28 February 2026 (see Exhibit 20). For these public bodies, we relied on unaudited data. 
4. Remuneration comprises all components of pay, for example, salaries and wages, pension, healthcare and allowances. Exhibit 1 shows public servants’ remuneration by category between 2020 and 2024. Exhibits 10 and 14 present the same information for civil servants and SAGC employees respectively. 
5. Exhibit 18 presents the definitions of some components of civil servants’ remuneration and their legal basis. Exhibit 19 presents the same information for some components of SAGC employees’ remuneration. 
6. Exhibits 11 and 15 show total remuneration by civil service entity and SAGC respectively. The number of employees per entity is a significant contributor to its remuneration expenditure. 
7. Under section 47 of the Public Authorities Act (2020 Revision), all public bodies are expected to use the same salary scale. SAGCs implemented this section of the Act from June 2019 onwards. As at December 2024, two SAGCs – the Civil Aviation Authority and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority – had yet to implement it. 
8. Appendix 2 shows the Government’s salary scales from 2020 to 2025.