While the number of people economically inactive due to long-term sickness has dropped to 2.81 million people, the latest figures show the number remains at historically high levels.
Office for National Statistics data for the latest quarter (March to May 2024) show that 2.81 million people are economically inactive due to long-term sickness.
While this was down 17,265 since the previous quarter’s record total of 2.83 million, it is still an increase of 151,941 on the same period last year, and 796,044 higher than the same period in 2019.
The data’s release comes the day after a King’s Speech commitment to tackle the issue.
Brett Hill, head of health and protection at independent consultancy Broadstone, said: “As a new Labour government takes power, bringing down economic inactivity due to chronic illness must be one of their highest priorities.
“The record numbers out of the workforce due to ill health are piling pressure on our ailing public health services and limiting the economic growth potential of the country.
“Widespread difficulties in accessing primary care and mental health services are fuelling the crisis, and our struggling public healthcare system is all too often unable to diagnose and treat conditions at an early stage.
“Instead, many health problems go untreated for too long, developing into more serious conditions that ultimately require more complex treatments that take longer, cost more and may well be less successful than early intervention would have been.
“To combat this rising tide of ill-health, businesses are investing significantly in private healthcare services to support the health of their employees.
“This ranges from expanding coverage of insurance products like PMI and health cash plans, providing access to preventative care such as health screenings or digital GP services or even offering private dental care benefits.
“While yesterday’s King’s Speech reinforced Labour’s pledge to revive the NHS – acknowledging the role that employers play in propping up the UK’s health and alleviating the strain on NHS services is crucial to achieving to this goal.”