Pimec estimates the cost of sick leave in Spain at €162 billion annually
The employers' association highlights the sharp increase in mental health-related disability claims.
MadridThe employers' association Pimec estimates that sick leave costs the Spanish economy €162.564 billion annually, equivalent to 10.2% of GDP. This data is taken from the report. Evolution of sick leave in Spain 2013-2025, Presented this Wednesday in Madrid by the employers' association for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The cost of sick leave, according to the association, stands at €2,459 per year per worker, representing 6.6% of all labor costs. Furthermore, according to the association, chaired by Antoni Cañete, the number of hours of sick leave has doubled in the last ten years.
In comparison with other European countries, Spain has one of the highest percentages of sick leave due to temporary incapacity (4.1%), above the European Union average (2.0%) and surpassed only by Norway and Slovenia. As a factor that may explain this upward trend, the report highlights the increase in sick leave for mental health reasons, which rose by 112.6% between 2017 and 2024, with an average duration of almost one hundred days, although they represent less than 10% of all cases.
During the presentation of the report, the Secretary General of Pimec, Josep Ginesta, spoke about the impact of "the inexorable passage of time," given that sick leave for workers over 55 years of age lasts an average of 82 days, compared to 21 days for the 16-35 age group. Pimec is calling on the Spanish government and parliamentary groups to take urgent measures to alleviate absenteeism, such as prioritizing mutual insurance companies for common contingencies, improving the public-private healthcare system, and improving primary care.
Observatory
Regarding the observatory announced by the Ministry of Social Security to monitor these absences, the president of the employers' association, Antoni Cañete, described it as "necessary but insufficient" and demanded that the government act with "speed and ambition." The organization's representative in Madrid, Ferran Bel, announced that the employers' association will meet tomorrow with the Minister of Social Security, Elma Saiz, at its headquarters in Barcelona, as part of a series of meetings with all parliamentary groups and the government. The former Junts parliamentarian urged the government and the parliamentary groups to approve measures to alleviate absenteeism.
