HR AND PEOPLE STATISTICS
Numbers you can check.
Every figure on this page names the body that published it, the period it covers and links to the release it came from. Where the publisher calls a figure an estimate, it says so, which for most official labour-market statistics is the honest description.
Figures last checked against their releases on 22 October 2026.
How to read these.
A statistic without its period is close to useless. A sickness absence rate for one year is not a trend, a count of reports made is not an estimate of everything that happened, and a percentage of absence occurrences is a different thing from a percentage of days lost. Where that distinction changes the meaning, the figure carries a note saying so.
We publish no figure we have not opened at the publisher, and none is adjusted, rounded for effect or carried forward to a later year than the source supports. If a release is updated and contradicts something here, the figure changes and so does the review date.
Using a figure
Quote the publisher rather than this page, and quote the period with it. Each row has an anchor, so /hr-statistics/#sickness-absence-rate links to a single figure.
Spotted something out of date? Write to contact@new-dynamics.com and we will check it against the release.
Absence and wellbeing
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6%estimate | Sickness absence rate across the UK labour marketUp 0.4 percentage points on 2021, and the highest the rate has been since 2004. | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 185.6 millionestimate | Working days lost to sickness or injuryA record high in total days, though the 5.7 days lost per worker was not a record. | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 5.7 daysestimate | Days lost to sickness per worker | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 29.3%estimate | Share of absence occurrences caused by minor illnessMeasured as a share of occurrences, not of days lost. The two are not interchangeable. | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 10.5%estimate | Share of absence occurrences caused by musculoskeletal problems | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 7.9%estimate | Share of absence occurrences caused by mental health conditionsOccurrences only. The HSE figures below show how much larger the share of days lost is. | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 3.2% and 2.2%estimate | Sickness absence rate, women compared with men | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 3.6% and 2.3%estimate | Sickness absence rate, public sector compared with private | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 3.7% and 2.4%estimate | Sickness absence rate, part-time compared with full-time workers | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 4.3%, in caring, leisure and other service occupationsestimate | Occupation group with the highest sickness absence rate | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
| 3.7%estimate | Sickness absence rate among workers aged 65 and overThe highest rate on record for that age group. | 2022 | Office for National StatisticsSickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 |
Health and safety
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9 millionestimate | Working people suffering from a work-related illness | 2024/25 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
| 964,000estimate | Workers suffering work-related stress, depression or anxiety | 2024/25 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
| 511,000estimate | Workers suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder | 2024/25 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
| 40.1 millionestimate | Working days lost to work-related illness and workplace injury | 2024/25 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
| 59,219 | Injuries to employees reported under RIDDORA count of reports made, not an estimate of all workplace injuries. | 2024/25 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
| 126 | Workers killed in work-related accidentsPublished alongside the 2024/25 figures but covering 2025/26, so it is quoted with its own period. | 2025/26 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
| £22.9 billionestimate | Annual cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditionsA year earlier than the figures above, because the costing lags the health statistics. | 2023/24 | Health and Safety ExecutiveKey figures for Great Britain, 2024/25 |
Workforce composition
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75.3%estimate | Employment rate, people aged 16 to 64 | June to August 2026 | Office for National StatisticsLabour market overview, UK: October 2026 |
| 4.7%estimate | Unemployment rate, people aged 16 and over | June to August 2026 | Office for National StatisticsLabour market overview, UK: October 2026 |
| 20.9%estimate | Economic inactivity rate, people aged 16 to 64People neither in work nor looking for work. The figure a workforce plan needs alongside unemployment. | June to August 2026 | Office for National StatisticsLabour market overview, UK: October 2026 |
Recruitment
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 691,000estimate | Job vacancies across the UKAn early estimate, and a quarterly fall of 21,000. ONS attributes reduced recruiting among smaller firms to increased labour costs. | July to September 2026 | Office for National StatisticsLabour market overview, UK: October 2026 |
Pay and reward
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.7%estimate | Annual growth in average regular earningsRegular pay excludes bonuses. | June to August 2026 | Office for National StatisticsLabour market overview, UK: October 2026 |
| 0.6% on CPIH, 0.8% on CPIestimate | Annual growth in regular earnings after inflationThe same pay growth measured against two different inflation indices. Quote which one you mean. | June to August 2026 | Office for National StatisticsLabour market overview, UK: October 2026 |
| 12.3%estimate | Gender pay gap, all employeesThe difference in median gross hourly earnings excluding overtime, not a measure of unequal pay for the same job. | April 2026 | Office for National StatisticsGender pay gap in the UK: 2026 |
| 6.8%estimate | Gender pay gap, full-time employees | April 2026 | Office for National StatisticsGender pay gap in the UK: 2026 |
| negative 2.1%estimate | Gender pay gap, part-time employeesNegative because part-time women earned more per hour than part-time men. | April 2026 | Office for National StatisticsGender pay gap in the UK: 2026 |
| 0.3% at 18 to 21, rising to 11.2% at 60 and overestimate | Gender pay gap by age, full-time employeesThe gap widens with age rather than being constant across a workforce. | April 2026 | Office for National StatisticsGender pay gap in the UK: 2026 |
Benchmarks are a starting point, not a verdict.
A national absence rate tells you nothing about why your own review cycle stalls in the second week. Bring your own figures and your current process to a conversation.
Talk to the team