At the beginning of the year there was a wave of respiratory diseases.

A severe cold wave kept employee absenteeism in Germany at a high level in the first quarter. According to DAK-Gesundheit, employees had around a quarter more days of absence due to respiratory problems than in the first quarter of 2024. Slight declines in almost all other disease groups largely offset this increase.

Overall, the sickness rate among DAK insured persons in the first three months of the year was 6.0 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous year. According to the health insurance company's figures, it was 5.5 percent in 2023. A sickness rate of 6.0 percent means that on every day – from January to March inclusive – an average of 60 out of 1,000 employees were on sick leave.

According to DAK-Gesundheit's analysis of approximately 2.2 million employed insured persons, almost 40 percent of employees had at least one sick note. This also represents a slight increase compared to the same period last year (38 percent).

"We cannot give the all-clear regarding sick leave," said DAK CEO Andreas Storm. "Employee absence rates remain too high. A thorough and serious debate about the causes is needed, because given the ongoing economic weakness in Germany, employee absence rates are of particular importance."

According to the data, respiratory diseases such as colds and bronchitis caused a total of around 158 days of absence per 100 DAK-insured employees – 31 days more than in the first quarter of 2024. This corresponds to an increase of 24 percent.

The majority of absences in the first quarter were attributable to three groups of illnesses: respiratory problems were followed by mental illnesses such as depression and musculoskeletal problems such as back pain.