According to data from the AOK health insurance company, working people in Bavaria were ill less often last year than in the previous year – and are among the healthiest in Germany. The sickness rate was 5.9 percent in 2023. This means that on average, almost six out of 100 employees were on sick leave on any given day. A year earlier it was 6.1 percent.
“Nevertheless, it is the second highest sickness rate since 1995,” the health insurance company announced on Thursday in Munich. In a nationwide comparison, the Free State occupies the top spot together with Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg and Berlin.
Within Bavaria there was once again a north-south divide: while the sickness rate in Upper Franconia was 7.0 percent, in Upper Bavaria it was 5.2 percent. The picture is similar for the districts: While Kronach achieved the highest rate of 7.9 percent, the Munich district was at the lowest end of the scale with 4.6 percent.
In total, around 62 percent of all working AOK insured people in the Free State reported sick in 2023, added the fund, which has around 40 percent of all legally insured people in Bavaria as members and whose data is therefore considered representative. In 2022 it was almost 63 percent – in 2021, however, it was only a good 46 percent.
According to AOK, there was a particularly high increase in mental illnesses, with an increase of 14 percent. Occupations in geriatric care were once again particularly affected, with almost 23 sickness reports per 100 insured people. For comparison: the average for all employed people in Bavaria was 12.4.
Most sick notes were for respiratory diseases (78 sick notes per 100 insured people), even if these occurred significantly less frequently than in the previous year. Musculoskeletal diseases took second place (39 sickness reports per 100 insured people).