Sick days from mental illness in Germany (2014–2024)
Sick days from mental illness: +55 % in 10 years.
Mental illness is the leading cause of long-term sickness absence in Germany. Sick days per 100 insured rose from around 200 (2014) to over 320 (2024). Burnout, depression and anxiety dominate the diagnostic picture.
Increase in mental-illness sick days 2014–2024
Increase in mental sick days 2014–2024
Sick days / 100 insured (DAK 2024)
Share of total sick days (NRW 2024)
Mental-cause sick days NRW 2024
A persistent trend
While total sick days have only risen moderately since 2014, sick days caused by mental illness per 100 insured have grown by more than 50 % across all major statutory health insurers. Burnout (ICD-10 Z73), depression (F32/F33) and anxiety (F40/F41) lead the diagnostic mix.
Three independent confirmations
Three independent data bases confirm the magnitude: DAK Psychreport 2025 (321 sick days per 100 insured 2024), BARMER Health Report 2025 (+7.2 % in mental diagnoses vs 2023) and WIdO Fehlzeiten-Report 2024. The SuGA NRW 2024 reports 147.3m sick days from mental disorders — 16.7 % of all sick days.
What drives the rise
- Higher awareness and diagnostic rates — mental load is no longer hidden
- Shift from somatic to psychosocial diagnoses for long-term AU
- Structural drivers: workload density, shift work, always-on culture
- Pandemic effects: long-Covid sequelae, isolation, hybrid-work transition
Sources
- 1
DAK Psychreport 2025
DAK-Gesundheit, 2025
AU-Tage je 100 Versicherte aufgrund psychischer Diagnosen, Trendanalyse seit 2000.
Quelle öffnen Abgerufen: 2026-05-07 - 2
BARMER Gesundheitsreport 2025
BARMER, 2025
3,61 Mio. Erwerbspersonen, +7,2 % bei psychischen Diagnosen ggü. 2023.
Quelle öffnen Abgerufen: 2026-05-07 - 3
TK Gesundheitsreport 2025
Techniker Krankenkasse, 2025
6,0 Mio. Erwerbspersonen, 19,1 AU-Tage je Person 2024.
Quelle öffnen Abgerufen: 2026-05-07 - 4
WIdO Fehlzeiten-Report 2024
Wissenschaftliches Institut der AOK, 2024
Quelle öffnen Abgerufen: 2026-05-07
We use deeplink-friendly originals. Charts are redrawn from the data — no 1:1 copies. For Statista data the underlying primary source (e.g. WIdO, AOK) is named explicitly.
Further reading
Related datasets
Burnout burden AOK 2024
184 Tage · Sick days per 100 AOK members from burnout (2024)
Cost per sick day
250 € · Direct cost per sick day (BAuA)
GB Psych compliance rate
47,4 % · Businesses without GB Psych (GDA 2013–2018)
Tools & guides
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