Poor workforce health costs UK economy £241bn per year

The findings, from Vitality's Global Health Index 2026, found that presenteeism, rather than absence, is the key reason for this, pointing to workers who are physically at their desks but not functioning at full capacity. An employee with a high mental health wellbeing risk would be estimated to lose an additional 30.3 days of lost productivity per year, Vitality said, representing the single largest driver of economic output lost to ill health. This comes as 66% of UK employees reported moderate-to-serious psychological distress, while one in four have a formal mental health diagnosi...