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Working days lost in Great Britain

33.7 million

Estimated working days lost due to work-related ill health and non-fatal workplace injuries in 2023/24 (LFS)

Working days lost, 2023/24

33.7 million
Pie chart with 2 slices.
End of interactive chart.
  • Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health in 2023/24, 16.4 million and 7.8 million respectively.
  • On average, each person suffering took around 15.5 days off work. This varies as follows:
    • 6.8 days for Injuries
    • 17.7 days for Ill health cases
    • 21.1 days for Stress, depression or anxiety
    • 14.3 days for Musculoskeletal disorders

Change over time

  • Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, working days lost per worker due to self-reported work-related illness or injury had been broadly flat. The current rate (1.25 working days lost per worker) is similar than the 2018/19 pre-coronavirus level.
  • A chart showing how the working days lost rates have changed over time can be found in the Historical picture statistics in Great Britain report (PDF) [26].

More information on working days lost

Link URLs in this page

  1. Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/index.htm
  2. Statistics A - Zhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/a-z.htm
  3. Index of data tableshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/tables/index.htm
  4. Ill healthhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/causdis/index.htm
  5. Overview - COVID-19https://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/coronavirus/index.htm
  6. Management informationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/coronavirus/management-information.htm
  7. Overview - Fatal injurieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/fatals.htm
  8. Latest quarterly fatal injury figureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/fatalquarterly.htm
  9. Overview - Non-fatal injuryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/causinj/index.htm
  10. Violence at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/causinj/violence/index.htm
  11. Costs to Britainhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/cost.htm
  12. Industrieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/industry/index.htm
  13. Countries and regions of Britainhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/regions/index.htm
  14. Comparisons with other countrieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/european/index.htm
  15. Historical picturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/history/index.htm
  16. Overview - About HSE Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about.htm
  17. Data sourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/sources.htm
  18. Overview - National statistics policieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/index.htm
  19. Revisionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/revisions/index.htm
  20. Confidentiality policyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/confidentiality.htm
  21. Overview - User engagementhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/engagement/index.htm
  22. Reports from previous user consultationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/engagement/previous-consultations.htm
  23. Quality guidelineshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/quality-guidelines.htm
  24. Statement of administrative sourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/about/administrative-sources.htm
  25. Research and ad hoc analysishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/resources.htm
  26. Historical picture statistics in Great Britain reporthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/assets/docs/historical-picture.pdf
  27. Data source: Labour Force Survey (LFS)https://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/sources.htm
  28. LFSILLTYPhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/assets/docs/lfsilltyp.xlsx
  29. LFSINJSUM https://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/assets/docs/lfsinjsum.xlsx
  30. LFSWDLhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/assets/docs/lfswdl.xlsx
  31. Further working days lost tableshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/sTATIsTICs/lfs/index.htm

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Updated 2025-02-18