UK working days lost to sickness absence by reason 2025| ��ƽ��

Percentage of days lost through sickness absence in the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2025, by reason

Characteristic	Minor illnesses	Musculoskeletal problems	Other	Mental health conditions	Gastrointestinal problems	Respiratory conditions	Eye/ear/nose/mouth/dental problems	Genito-urinary problems	Heart, blood pressure, circulation problems	Headaches and migraines
2009	29%	26.7%	13.5%	9%	5%	4.5%	2.9%	1.5%	1.9%	2.9%
2010	25.1%	28.4%	11.3%	9.3%	7.8%	5.9%	1.9%	2.6%	2.2%	2.5%
2011	21.2%	26.8%	14%	10.8%	7.9%	4.1%	2.8%	3.7%	3.3%	1.2%
2012	19.3%	25.1%	16.1%	11.8%	6.6%	3.3%	3%	3.1%	4.3%	1.1%
2013	20.9%	23.2%	16.6%	12.2%	6.6%	4.4%	3.9%	2.4%	3.8%	1.4%
2014	17.9%	26.6%	17.8%	11%	6.4%	5%	3.4%	2.4%	4.1%	1.3%
2015	22.4%	23.6%	15.3%	12.7%	6.6%	3.9%	3.2%	2.8%	2.7%	2%
2016	24.7%	22.4%	15.3%	11.5%	6.5%	3.9%	3.6%	3.1%	2.3%	2.1%
2017	26.1%	21.5%	15.4%	11.4%	6.3%	2.8%	4.2%	2.2%	2.5%	1.7%
2018	27.2%	19.7%	13.7%	12.4%	6.1%	2.8%	3.7%	2.9%	3.4%	3.3%
2019	22.9%	20.5%	14.4%	14.6%	6.3%	4%	3.7%	2.6%	4.1%	2.1%
2020	21.7%	17.6%	19.8%	13.5%	5.6%	5.3%	2.7%	1.8%	3.2%	3.1%
2021	16.2%	15.8%	27.4%	12.4%	5%	6.8%	3%	2.3%	3.6%	2.6%
2022	24.1%	12.5%	26%	10.1%	5%	8.5%	1.9%	1.7%	2.8%	2.3%
2023	26.9%	16%	17.7%	9%	5.6%	5.7%	2.5%	2.6%	3.7%	2.9%
2024	22.2%	17.8%	15.9%	13.7%	5.6%	7.6%	2.4%	3.2%	2.8%	2.1%
2025	22.2%	18.3%	19.1%	11.5%	6.2%	5.8%	3.7%	2.8%	3.4%	2.8%

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Release date

May 2026

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2009 to 2025

Age group

16 years and older

Supplementary notes

This statistic is using original data from the Office for National Statistics and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the .

*Data reweighted from 2019 onwards

**The source advises caution for these years due to the impact of government support policies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Citation formats

In 2025, 22.2 percent of working days lost due to sickness absence were due to minor illnesses, with a further 18.3 percent being due to musculoskeletal problems. Mental health conditions accounted for 11.5 percent of working absences, while 19.1 percent of days lost were due to other unspecified conditions.