Mental health-related sick leaves cost Finland over one billion euros annually

Last year, the costs associated with long-term mental health-related sick leaves amounted to at least one billion euros, according to Kela, the Finnish social insurance institution. Nearly six million workdays were lost due to these absences, which have significantly increased over the past decade. Kela reports that this figure translates to the equivalent of 26,000 full-time employees being absent for an entire year.

If we estimate that approximately one-fifth of all mental health-related sick leave days occur during shorter absences (below the sickness allowance deductible limit), the lost workdays would exceed seven million. However, comprehensive registration data on these absences is lacking.

Mikko Rissanen, a specialist at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, indicates that the true cost of lost workdays is likely even higher than Kela’s calculations suggest. This estimate is primarily to gauge the scale of total costs.

For several years, the annual lost costs from long mental health-related sick leaves have been slightly over one billion euros when calculated based on the incomes of those receiving sickness benefits. Kela notes that in the past decade, this cost has increased by nearly half a billion euros, or almost 90%, when adjusted for inflation. Recently, the costs associated with these absences have stabilized.

According to Jenni Blomgren, a research professor at Kela, the growth in costs is largely due to the significant increase in lost workdays since 2016. While the number of lost days continues to rise, wages have not kept pace with inflation, which has contributed to the normalization of real costs.

Reducing mental health-related absences could benefit employers, citizens, and society as a whole. Rissanen highlights the importance of supporting mental health and work capacity, underscoring the significant workforce output lost each year.