Workers in Wales have taken more sick days than anywhere else in the UK over the past decade, while London has recorded the lowest average absence per worker, according to a long-term analysis of official labour market data.
Across the UK as a whole, an average of more than 146 million working days were lost each year to sickness and absence between 2015 and 2024. The figures point to persistent regional gaps, with some parts of the country consistently seeing higher absence per worker, even when population size is taken into account.
The data also shows that sickness absence peaked sharply in 2022, a year that stands out across every UK region. That year alone saw more than 188 million working days lost nationally, the highest annual total recorded during the decade analysed.
Wales records the highest absence per worker
Wales ranked first for sickness absence when measured by days lost per worker, averaging 5.8 days per year over the ten-year period. The peak came in 2022, when workers in Wales lost an average of 8.2 days each, the highest figure recorded by any UK region in any single year during the period studied.
 |
Get our essential daily HR news and updates. |
Despite its smaller population, Wales still lost an average of 8.3 million working days per year to sickness and absence across the decade. The figures suggest that higher absence levels in Wales have been sustained rather than driven by a single outlier year.
Scotland ranked second, with workers losing an average of 5.1 days per year. As in Wales, 2022 marked the most disruptive year, when Scottish workers lost an average of 6.5 days each, equivalent to 17.3 million working days in total. Over the decade, Scotland averaged 13.3 million days lost per year.
The North East of England placed third, with an average of five days lost per worker each year. While its overall totals were lower due to population size, the region still experienced a sharp rise in 2022, when working days lost reached 8.1 million.
Large regions drive the biggest totals
While Wales and Scotland led on days lost per worker, the regions with the largest populations accounted for the highest total volumes of absence.
The South East of England recorded the highest overall number of days lost of any region, averaging 19.3 million working days per year. In 2022 alone, the South East lost 23.8 million days, the highest annual regional total recorded during the decade.
The North West followed closely, averaging 17.1 million working days lost per year. Its worst year came in 2023, when more than 20.5 million days were lost across the region. London ranked third for total days lost overall, averaging 15.9 million days per year, despite having the lowest absence per worker.
These contrasts underline how population size can mask very different absence patterns. Regions with lower average sick days per worker can still face substantial productivity losses simply because of the scale of their workforce.
London records the lowest absence per worker
London consistently recorded the fewest sick days per worker of any UK region, with an average of 3.4 days per year across the ten-year period. Even so, the capital still experienced a sharp spike in 2022, when 23.4 million working days were lost, equivalent to around five days per worker.
Other southern regions also recorded relatively low absence per worker. The South East, South West and East of England all averaged between four and 4.7 days lost per worker per year, contributing to a combined southern average of just over four days.
Northern Ireland sat near the bottom of the rankings for both per-worker absence and total days lost. Workers there took an average of 4.9 days off per year, while total days lost averaged 4.2 million annually, the lowest figure of any UK region.
Long-term patterns raise questions for employers
The analysis was carried out by using Office for National Statistics data on sickness absence in the labour market. The decade-long approach shows that regional differences have remained stable rather than narrowing over time.
Commenting on the findings, Simon Fabb, chief executive officer of ChiefJobs.com, said the long view revealed entrenched disparities. He said the UK lost around 146 million working days every year to sickness and absence on average, adding that the scale of the losses became more striking when broken down by region.
“In some regions, the numbers are striking. The North West, for example, loses an average of over 17 million work days every year, while Northern Ireland loses closer to four million – a difference of around 307%, driven in part by population size and the types of jobs people are doing,” he said.
He added that large workforces explained why areas such as the South East lost the most days overall, while Wales and Scotland consistently recorded higher absence per worker year after year. “Those gaps don’t disappear over time; they add up to millions of lost work days and point to long-standing differences in health, job types and support across the UK,” he said.
The figures reinforce the need to look beyond national averages and understand how sickness absence plays out locally. Persistent regional differences suggest that workforce health, job design and access to support may require tailored responses rather than uniform absence policies.
