The Workplace Health Data Explorer brings together official UK data on sickness absence, work-related health and local wellbeing context. It helps explain population-level patterns, not diagnose an individual employer or workforce.
These figures describe populations, places or workforce groups in published datasets. They do not describe the health, wellbeing or absence risk of any particular employee, employer or workforce.
It rose to 2.6% in 2022 and has come back to 2.0%, close to where it sat through the 2010s.
In words: the rate was 2.2% in 2010, peaked at 2.6% in 2022, and is 2.0% in 2025. Years the source does not publish are left out rather than filled in.
Source. Office for National Statistics, Sickness absence in the UK labour market. The rate is the share of working hours lost to sickness absence.
What it does not show. Why the rate moved. A change in the national figure can come from who is in work, what illnesses are circulating, or how people answered a survey, and this series separates none of those.
| Year | Absence rate |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 2.2% |
| 2011 | 2.1% |
| 2012 | 2.1% |
| 2013 | 2.0% |
| 2014 | 2.0% |
| 2015 | 2.0% |
| 2016 | 2.0% |
| 2017 | 1.9% |
| 2018 | 2.0% |
| 2022 | 2.6% |
| 2023 | 2.3% |
| 2024 | 2.0% |
| 2025 | 2.0% |
Minor illnesses account for the largest share of days lost, at 22.2% of the total.
The 3 smallest categories are in the full table rather than the chart, so the ones carrying the story stay readable.
In words: minor illnesses lead on days lost at 22.2%, then other at 19.1%. Mental health conditions account for 11.5% of days lost while making up 8.9% of absence occurrences, which is the signature of fewer but much longer absences.
Source. Office for National Statistics, Sickness absence in the UK labour market. Share of days lost, not share of absences: the two differ because absences differ in length.
What it does not show. Cause. People report the reason for an absence. Nothing here says work caused it, and the ONS categories are not a clinical classification.
| Reason | Share of days lost | Share of occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Minor illnesses | 22.2% | 30.4% |
| Other | 19.1% | 15.6% |
| Musculoskeletal problems | 18.3% | 14.6% |
| Mental health conditions | 11.5% | 8.9% |
| Gastrointestinal problems | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| Respiratory conditions | 5.8% | 5.6% |
| Prefers not to give details | 4.3% | 4.5% |
| Eye/ear/nose/mouth/dental problems | 3.7% | 3.8% |
| Heart, blood pressure, circulation problems | 3.4% | 2.6% |
| Headaches and migraines | 2.8% | 4.4% |
| Genito-urinary problems | 2.8% | 3.0% |
By industry it runs from 1.0% to 3.3%, and the ONS publishes ten breakdowns in all.
The 6 smallest categories are in the full table rather than the chart, so the ones carrying the story stay readable.
In words: H: Transport & storage has the highest published rate at 3.3% and K: Financial & insurance activities the lowest at 1.0%. The full table carries all ten ONS breakdowns, including region, occupation, workforce size, age, sex, sector, working pattern, long-term health condition and disability.
Source. Office for National Statistics, Sickness absence in the UK labour market.
What it does not show. A league table. These are different groups of workers doing different jobs, and a sector figure says nothing about any employer inside it.
| Breakdown | Group | Absence rate | Days per worker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry sector | A: Agriculture, forestry & fishing | 1.2% | 3.2 |
| Industry sector | B,D,E: Mining, energy and water supply | 2.9% | 7.3 |
| Industry sector | C: Manufacturing | 2.2% | 5.4 |
| Industry sector | F: Construction | 1.4% | 3.4 |
| Industry sector | G: Wholesale, retail & repair of motor vehicles | 2.0% | 4.2 |
| Industry sector | H: Transport & storage | 3.3% | 7.9 |
| Industry sector | I: Accommodation & food services | 1.4% | 2.6 |
| Industry sector | J: Information & communication | 1.1% | 2.6 |
| Industry sector | K: Financial & insurance activities | 1.0% | 2.4 |
| Industry sector | L: Real estate activities | 1.8% | 3.6 |
| Industry sector | M: Professional, scientific & technical activities | 1.0% | 2.3 |
| Industry sector | N: Administrative & support services | 2.0% | 4.3 |
| Industry sector | O: Public admin & defence; social security | 2.4% | 5.6 |
| Industry sector | P: Education | 2.1% | 4.0 |
| Industry sector | Q: Human health & social work activities | 3.0% | 6.2 |
| Industry sector | R,S,T: Other services | 1.5% | 3.0 |
| Country and region | North East | 2.2% | 4.9 |
| Country and region | North West | 2.1% | 4.6 |
| Country and region | Yorkshire and The Humber | 2.4% | 5.1 |
| Country and region | East Midlands | 2.1% | 4.6 |
| Country and region | West Midlands | 1.8% | 4.0 |
| Country and region | East | 2.0% | 4.3 |
| Country and region | London | 1.5% | 3.3 |
| Country and region | South East | 2.0% | 4.4 |
| Country and region | South West | 2.1% | 4.4 |
| Country and region | Wales | 1.9% | 4.1 |
| Country and region | Scotland | 2.3% | 4.9 |
| Country and region | Northern Ireland | 2.2% | 5.0 |
| Occupation group | Managers, Directors and Senior Officials | 1.0% | 2.6 |
| Occupation group | Professional Occupations | 1.6% | 3.8 |
| Occupation group | Associate Professional Occupations | 2.0% | 4.5 |
| Occupation group | Administrative And Secretarial Occupations | 1.8% | 3.8 |
| Occupation group | Skilled Trades Occupations | 2.1% | 5.1 |
| Occupation group | Caring, Leisure And Other Service Occupations | 2.6% | 5.0 |
| Occupation group | Sales And Customer Service Occupations | 2.4% | 4.4 |
| Occupation group | Process, Plant And Machine Operatives | 3.3% | 8.1 |
| Occupation group | Elementary Occupations | 3.0% | 5.1 |
| Size of workforce | Less than 25 employees | 1.7% | 3.6 |
| Size of workforce | 25-49 employees | 1.5% | 3.3 |
| Size of workforce | 50-499 employees | 2.2% | 5.0 |
| Size of workforce | 500 or more employees | 2.3% | 5.5 |
| Age group | aged 16 to 24 | 1.3% | 2.4 |
| Age group | aged 25 to 34 | 1.5% | 3.5 |
| Age group | aged 35 to 49 | 1.7% | 4.0 |
| Age group | aged 50 to 64 | 2.8% | 6.2 |
| Age group | aged 65 and over | 3.3% | 5.0 |
| Sex | men | 1.7% | 4.1 |
| Sex | women | 2.4% | 4.6 |
| Public or private sector | Public sector | 2.9% | 6.2 |
| Public or private sector | Private sector | 1.7% | 3.8 |
| Full time or part time | Full-time | 1.9% | 4.7 |
| Full time or part time | Part-time | 2.8% | 3.3 |
| Long-term health condition | long-term health condition | 4.0% | 8.3 |
| Long-term health condition | no long-term health condition | 1.0% | 2.3 |
| Disability status | Disabled | 6.2% | 12.5 |
| Disability status | Not disabled | 1.2% | 2.6 |
Stress, depression or anxiety is the most reported, at 2,770 per 100,000 workers.
In words: stress, depression or anxiety is reported at 2,770 per 100,000 workers, with musculoskeletal disorders next. That rate was 1,560 in 2001/02 and is 2,770 in 2024/25. Categories the source suppresses as too unreliable to publish are shown that way in the table rather than dropped.
Source. Health and Safety Executive, Self-reported work-related ill health and workplace injuries, Labour Force Survey, 2024/25. Self-reported: it records what a worker attributes to work.
What it does not show. It does not show causation, and it is not a diagnosis. A worker saying an illness was caused or made worse by work is not a clinical judgement that it was, and the HSE is explicit about that. There is also no industry breakdown here on purpose: the HSE categories are broad industrial classes, and pinning one onto a line of work like law or software would attribute a figure to a group the survey never measured.
| Type of illness | Rate per 100,000 | Workers (thousands) | Change on previous year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal disorders | 1,470 | 511.0 | No |
| Breathing or lung problems | 150.0 | 53.0 | No |
| Skin problems | too unreliable to publish | too unreliable to publish | [U2] |
| Hearing problems | too unreliable to publish | too unreliable to publish | [U2] |
| Stress, depression or anxiety | 2,770 | 964.0 | Higher |
| Headache and/or eyestrain | 140.0 | 50.0 | [U2] |
| Heart disease/attack, other circulatory system | 85.0 | 29.0 | [U2] |
| Infectious disease (virus, bacteria) | 130.0 | 47.0 | No |
| Other type of illness | 500.0 | 175.0 | No |
23.3% of adults in England reported high anxiety, and local estimates run from 10.4% to 33.8%.
In words: the England figure was 21.7% in 2011/12 and is 23.3% in 2022/23. Across 150 local authorities the estimates run from 10.4% to 33.8%, but the confidence intervals are wide and overlap, so the order is not a ranking and no area here is better or worse than another.
Source. Office for National Statistics, Annual Population Survey, personal wellbeing estimates, 2022/23. Adults answering how anxious they felt yesterday, scoring 6 to 10 out of 10.
What it does not show. Anything about a workforce. It measures adults living in an area, and the people an employer employs are not a sample of the local population.
| Local authority | High anxiety | 95% confidence interval |
|---|---|---|
| Southampton | 33.8% | 26.9% to 40.6% |
| Croydon | 32.1% | 23.8% to 40.5% |
| Milton Keynes | 31.3% | 19.0% to 43.6% |
| Wakefield | 30.3% | 24.8% to 35.8% |
| Derby | 29.3% | 22.5% to 36.0% |
| Blackpool | 29.1% | 23.9% to 34.1% |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 29.0% | 23.4% to 34.7% |
| Islington | 28.6% | 19.1% to 38.1% |
| Wiltshire | 28.6% | 22.4% to 34.7% |
| Stockport | 28.5% | 22.5% to 34.5% |
| St. Helens | 28.3% | 22.4% to 34.2% |
| Knowsley | 28.2% | 21.8% to 34.6% |
| Ealing | 28.0% | 18.5% to 37.5% |
| Westminster | 27.9% | 19.6% to 36.1% |
| Southwark | 27.8% | 17.7% to 37.9% |
| Lewisham | 27.7% | 20.5% to 34.9% |
| Halton | 27.6% | 21.9% to 33.3% |
| Torbay | 27.4% | 22.4% to 32.5% |
| Doncaster | 27.4% | 21.8% to 33.0% |
| Surrey | 27.3% | 22.1% to 32.6% |
| Calderdale | 27.1% | 21.7% to 32.5% |
| Brent | 27.1% | 17.1% to 37.1% |
| Cumbria | 26.7% | 21.2% to 32.3% |
| Richmond upon Thames | 26.7% | 17.8% to 35.6% |
| Brighton and Hove | 26.7% | 20.5% to 32.9% |
| Peterborough | 26.6% | 19.7% to 33.5% |
| South Tyneside | 26.6% | 21.8% to 31.4% |
| Bedford | 26.4% | 17.5% to 35.3% |
| Hampshire | 26.3% | 22.3% to 30.3% |
| Worcestershire | 26.2% | 21.6% to 30.9% |
| York | 26.2% | 19.9% to 32.5% |
| Bradford | 26.1% | 19.8% to 32.3% |
| Walsall | 26.1% | 20.3% to 31.9% |
| Waltham Forest | 26.0% | 17.3% to 34.8% |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 25.9% | 20.3% to 31.6% |
| Kirklees | 25.9% | 19.3% to 32.5% |
| Trafford | 25.9% | 20.1% to 31.7% |
| Bracknell Forest | 25.9% | 19.9% to 31.8% |
| Sunderland | 25.8% | 20.9% to 30.8% |
| Wirral | 25.8% | 19.9% to 31.7% |
| Cheshire East | 25.7% | 18.1% to 33.4% |
| Staffordshire | 25.6% | 21.0% to 30.2% |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 25.6% | 20.6% to 30.6% |
| Havering | 25.5% | 19.8% to 31.2% |
| Bury | 25.5% | 20.8% to 30.1% |
| Hartlepool | 25.4% | 18.8% to 32.1% |
| Harrow | 25.4% | 17.1% to 33.8% |
| Bolton | 25.4% | 19.1% to 31.8% |
| Plymouth | 25.4% | 19.0% to 31.8% |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 25.4% | 18.4% to 32.4% |
| Barnet | 25.2% | 18.4% to 32.1% |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 25.2% | 20.2% to 30.1% |
| Rochdale | 25.1% | 18.3% to 32.0% |
| Sutton | 25.1% | 17.2% to 33.0% |
| Central Bedfordshire | 25.0% | 19.6% to 30.5% |
| Merton | 25.0% | 17.2% to 32.8% |
| Darlington | 25.0% | 18.0% to 32.0% |
| Gateshead | 24.9% | 19.9% to 29.8% |
| Nottingham | 24.8% | 19.4% to 30.2% |
| Oldham | 24.8% | 19.2% to 30.4% |
| Warrington | 24.7% | 18.9% to 30.5% |
| West Sussex | 24.5% | 19.7% to 29.2% |
| Hounslow | 24.4% | 16.4% to 32.5% |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 24.4% | 18.6% to 30.2% |
| Camden | 24.4% | 16.5% to 32.3% |
| West Berkshire | 24.4% | 18.6% to 30.1% |
| Sefton | 24.3% | 18.6% to 30.0% |
| Rotherham | 24.3% | 17.6% to 31.0% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 24.2% | 15.8% to 32.6% |
| Redbridge | 24.1% | 16.7% to 31.5% |
| East Sussex | 24.1% | 19.8% to 28.4% |
| Hillingdon | 24.1% | 15.9% to 32.2% |
| Manchester | 24.0% | 17.2% to 30.8% |
| Hertfordshire | 23.9% | 20.1% to 27.8% |
| Isle of Wight | 23.9% | 19.8% to 28.1% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 23.9% | 19.1% to 28.6% |
| Greenwich | 23.8% | 15.7% to 31.9% |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 23.7% | 19.4% to 28.0% |
| Middlesbrough | 23.7% | 17.9% to 29.4% |
| Medway | 23.6% | 18.6% to 28.7% |
| Leicestershire | 23.6% | 20.0% to 27.2% |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 23.5% | 17.4% to 29.6% |
| North Yorkshire | 23.4% | 17.9% to 29.0% |
| Salford | 23.2% | 17.3% to 29.2% |
| Bristol | 23.2% | 15.5% to 31.0% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 23.2% | 13.9% to 32.6% |
| Portsmouth | 23.2% | 17.3% to 29.1% |
| Lambeth | 23.0% | 15.5% to 30.5% |
| Coventry | 23.0% | 18.4% to 27.6% |
| Southend-on-Sea | 22.9% | 18.1% to 27.8% |
| North Lincolnshire | 22.9% | 16.8% to 29.0% |
| Tameside | 22.7% | 18.2% to 27.2% |
| Essex | 22.7% | 19.6% to 25.8% |
| Kingston upon Thames | 22.6% | 15.3% to 30.0% |
| Liverpool | 22.5% | 14.8% to 30.2% |
| Thurrock | 22.5% | 18.0% to 27.0% |
| Reading | 22.4% | 16.7% to 28.1% |
| Tower Hamlets | 22.4% | 13.2% to 31.7% |
| South Gloucestershire | 22.4% | 18.1% to 26.7% |
| Barnsley | 22.3% | 17.7% to 27.0% |
| Birmingham | 22.3% | 17.3% to 27.3% |
| Norfolk | 22.3% | 18.3% to 26.2% |
| Buckinghamshire | 22.1% | 17.4% to 26.9% |
| Wigan | 22.1% | 17.1% to 27.1% |
| Lancashire | 22.1% | 18.4% to 25.8% |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 22.1% | 18.4% to 25.7% |
| Swindon | 22.0% | 17.2% to 26.9% |
| County Durham | 22.0% | 17.2% to 26.8% |
| Haringey | 21.9% | 13.5% to 30.2% |
| Bromley | 21.8% | 15.2% to 28.5% |
| Hackney | 21.7% | 13.3% to 30.1% |
| Herefordshire | 21.7% | 17.2% to 26.1% |
| North Tyneside | 21.6% | 16.8% to 26.6% |
| Solihull | 21.6% | 17.2% to 26.0% |
| Dorset | 21.3% | 16.7% to 26.0% |
| Bexley | 21.3% | 15.2% to 27.5% |
| Gloucestershire | 21.2% | 17.4% to 25.1% |
| Wolverhampton | 21.2% | 16.1% to 26.2% |
| Warwickshire | 21.2% | 15.6% to 26.7% |
| Derbyshire | 21.1% | 17.5% to 24.7% |
| Leicester | 21.0% | 15.5% to 26.6% |
| North Somerset | 21.0% | 16.0% to 26.1% |
| Sandwell | 20.9% | 15.9% to 25.9% |
| Suffolk | 20.8% | 16.7% to 25.0% |
| Sheffield | 20.8% | 15.6% to 26.0% |
| Wandsworth | 20.8% | 13.4% to 28.1% |
| Lincolnshire | 20.5% | 16.5% to 24.6% |
| Nottinghamshire | 20.2% | 16.4% to 24.1% |
| Leeds | 20.1% | 14.0% to 26.3% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 20.1% | 12.8% to 27.4% |
| North East Lincolnshire | 20.1% | 15.4% to 24.7% |
| Kent | 20.0% | 17.0% to 23.1% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 20.0% | 14.9% to 25.1% |
| Slough | 20.0% | 13.5% to 26.4% |
| Cambridgeshire | 20.0% | 15.6% to 24.4% |
| Somerset | 19.9% | 16.1% to 23.7% |
| Luton | 19.9% | 14.6% to 25.2% |
| Dudley | 19.9% | 14.5% to 25.3% |
| Devon | 19.8% | 15.8% to 23.8% |
| West Northamptonshire | 19.7% | 14.1% to 25.4% |
| Northumberland | 19.5% | 15.2% to 23.8% |
| Telford and Wrekin | 19.5% | 15.2% to 23.8% |
| Shropshire | 18.8% | 14.8% to 22.8% |
| Wokingham | 18.2% | 13.7% to 22.8% |
| Cornwall | 18.1% | 14.6% to 21.7% |
| Oxfordshire | 18.1% | 13.5% to 22.6% |
| North Northamptonshire | 17.4% | 11.5% to 23.4% |
| Rutland | 16.0% | 8.4% to 23.6% |
| Newham | 10.4% | 4.0% to 16.8% |
| Enfield | 10.4% | 5.1% to 15.7% |
Every figure above is an estimate about a population. Your organisation is not a population: it is a particular group of people, doing particular work, and none of these surveys sampled it.
The populations differ. ONS absence covers people in work across the UK. The HSE figures cover workers reporting an illness they attribute to work. The wellbeing estimates cover adults living in an area, employed or not. A number from one cannot be set against a number from another.
The questions differ. An absence rate counts hours not worked. A self-reported illness rate counts what someone believes about a cause. A wellbeing estimate counts how someone answered a question about yesterday.
The intervals overlap. For smaller groups they are wide enough that apparent differences are not differences. That is why nothing here ranks areas, sectors or employers.
Public data is good for context: what is common, what has moved, and how uncertain the picture is. What it cannot do is tell you what is happening inside your organisation. Only the people who work there can do that.
See how organisation-wide measurement works →