Employment in the charity sector has increased by more than 8 per cent since 2011, according to new government figures.

According to figures released by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, the charity sector employed approximately 891,000 people in 2016, an increase of 8.1 per cent since 2011.

This means that the charity sector accounted for 2.7 per cent of all jobs in the UK in 2016.

The figures also show a 2.2 per cent increase in the number of charity workers between 2015 and 2016.

The employment figures include all employees at charities, voluntary organisations and trusts, but exclude volunteers, social enterprises and mutuals.

But the DCMS said the employment figures for the charity sector were an underestimate, partly owing to the recent transfer of the Office for Civil Society to the DCMS from the Cabinet Office last year.

The DCMS figures show that recent increases in the charity sector’s workforce came after a severe contraction in 2012 and 2013 that resulted in approximately 76,000 people leaving the sector.

EU nationals accounted for 4 per cent of the charity sector’s workforce, and non-EU overseas nationals accounted for 2.9 per cent, the figures show.

The DCMS statistics also show that 93.2 per cent of employees in the civil society sector were employed, as opposed to self-employed.