The Círculo de Empresarios (Circle of Businessmen) reports that nearly 1.2 million people are absent from their jobs every day, representing a cost to Spain that could now reach up to 5.4% of GDP. The primary driver of this increase is absences due to temporary disability (incapacidad temporal).
“The rise in absenteeism is eroding business competitiveness and generating a growing cost for the economy as a whole. It is essential to align incentives, improve the management of medical leave, and reinforce the shared responsibility of all actors,” says Silvia Iranzo, president of the Economy and European Union working group at the Círculo de Empresarios.
In total, more than 368 million workdays were lost for this reason in 2023, a 52% increase compared to 2018. In the third quarter of 2025, 4.9% of employed persons did not work during the reference week, according to INE (National Statistics Institute) data cited by the Círculo de Empresarios—nearly two percentage points higher than before the pandemic. Regarding hours not worked, these represented 6.6% of agreed hours in this quarter, an increase of 1.8 points over 2019. This means that, on average, 1.2 million people miss work every day. Specifically, absenteeism due to temporary disability has doubled.
The Círculo de Empresarios (Spanish Business Council) estimates its total cost to be between 3% and 5.4% of GDP, which is equivalent to between 47.5 and 81.6 billion euros annually. This is compounded by the pressure that temporary disability leave places on the healthcare system, driving up public spending on benefits.
The rise in absenteeism is primarily explained by the increased duration of temporary disability leave and a higher number of individuals repeatedly taking such leave. According to the Círculo de Empresarios, absenteeism associated with “repeaters” is the fundamental factor that explains nearly the entire increase in the temporary disability absenteeism rate between 2018 and 2023. Thus, the average in Spain exceeds 38 days, compared to 25–30 days in countries like Germany or the Netherlands, and more than 16% of these processes last longer than a year.
Consequently, the Círculo de Empresarios proposes promoting a National Agreement against Absentism, aimed at correcting dysfunctions, strengthening the medical and administrative management of temporary disabilities, reviewing existing incentives, and improving monitoring and reintegration processes.
