New preliminary statistical information from Spain’s Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration Ministry revealed a new record in sick leave filings for 2025, the newspaper El País reported on Monday.
El País noted that the provisional Ministry data show that the average prevalence of temporal disability due to non-work related common contingencies in Spain was measured at a rate of 53.7 cases per 1,000 employees, up from the 51.1 recorded in 2024.
The newspaper noted that sick leave rates have steadily risen in Spain since 2012, going from 19.1 cases per 1,000 workers in that year, and up to 35.7 in 2020 during the pandemic — but then experiencing “skyrocketing” jumps over the past five years.
The persistent upward trend documented by the statistics has worried unions, employers’ associations, and public administrations — but with neither group translating their worries into measures that can tackle the issue, which is now reportedly incurred in a cost of 18.4 billion euros to Spanish public coffers in 2024 — an amount that represents the second largest item in the Spanish Social Security budget after pensions, per the newspaper.
According to the report, Spain’s Social Security is seeking an agreement to address the issue with labor unions and employers’ associations, which disagree on the causes of the rise in temporary disability claims documented by the statistics.
“The measures already agreed upon (greater involvement of mutual insurance companies in cases of musculoskeletal-related sick leave) have yet to gain traction, and new measures have not garnered sufficient consensus in the social dialogue,” the report read.
The situation prompted the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (Airef) to publish a study on the subject in February. According to El País, the institution identified five key factors in the rise of sick leave, including a “lack of supervision and monitoring of processes,” as each Spanish autonomous community grants sick leave through the health system, but the cost falls on Social Security.
Other factors identified include a “more protective” regulatory evolution and the “improvement in collective bargaining agreements,” increased demand for primary care, and the lengthening of waiting lists.
“It is clear that improving healthcare for workers would improve temporary disability statistics,” Maria del Mar Crespí, professor of labor law, told El País.
Waiting lists data cited by the newspaper show that 846,600 people were waiting for medical care in December 2024, with an average wait time of 126 days.
Spanish Social Security sources told El País that the trend that this trend is not limited to Spain, as “there has also been an increase in sick leave in other aging economies.” The sources emphasized that they are “working to develop solutions and hope to reach an agreement with labor and employer groups soon, despite the difficulties in recent years in securing such agreements.”
El País published its report on Monday hours before socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez celebrated that Spain reached 22 affiliates in its Social Security system for the first time.
“You are the ones who are building, driving, and shaping this country. A team that is making history. 22 million jobs,” Sánchez wrote.
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