Despite Corona: 2021 lowest sickness rate in eight years

31.01.2022 13:33

At 3.97 percent, the sickness rate among employees insured by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) was the lowest in eight years in 2021. This is another significant decrease compared to the first Corona year 2020 with a sickness rate of 4.13 percent. The last time sick leave was at such a low level was eight years ago (2013), at 4.02 percent. This means that on average every employed person with TK insurance was on sick leave for 14.5 days last year. In 2020 there were 15.1 days (2019: 15.4 days; 2018: 15.5 days). This is shown by a current preliminary evaluation of the TK Health Report 2022.

“In the first Corona year of 2020, we already noticed a sharp decline in sick leave compared to previous years,” explains Dr. Jens Baas, CEO of TK. “The main reason for this is significantly fewer sick reports due to colds - like in the previous year.” In 2021, each working person was only absent for an average of 1.64 days due to flu etc. For comparison: in 2020 there were still 2.30 days (2019: 2, 37; 2018: 2.55). “This shows that the distance and hygiene rules are still very effective,” said the TK boss.

However: With a good 37,625 sick notes, there was a significant increase in days missed due to a Covid-19 diagnosis. Last year there were 26,833. In total, the TK recorded around 5.13 million sick notes in 2021.

For the fourth time in a row, absences due to psychological diagnoses took the top spot in sickness reports at 21.8 percent. This is followed by diseases of the musculoskeletal system with 18.4 percent, ahead of diseases of the respiratory system with a share of 11.3 percent.