Sickness benefits

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Labour Market, Social Statistics
Anna Skovbæk Mortensen
+45 21 77 67 54

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Sickness benefits 2024

The purpose of the Sickness Benefits statistics is to provide information about the costs of sickness benefits and the number of sickness benefit recipients, both in terms of the number of people affected and the number of full-time employees. The statistics have been compiled since 1995, but are in their current form comparable from the year 2020 onwards.

Statistical presentation

Sickness benefit is an annual statement of the number of people, benefit days and amounts paid out in connection with illness. Furthermore, the extent of partially resumed work is calculated. The data is broken down by labour market affiliation, age, gender and geography. Furthermore, figures from the Sickness Benefit Statistics are included in the statistics Persons below the state pension age on public benefits, Labour Market Accounts and Absence, where the extent of absence due to illness is put into a larger context.

Statistical processing

When the data is received, all fields are checked by machine and the number of observations received matches the number of observations sent by KMD. If the data delivery cannot be approved, KMD is contacted in order to correct the delivery.

Relevance

Sickness benefit statistics tell us how many man-years Danish society loses due to long-term illness and how long it will take the long-term sick person to return to the labour market if he or she returns.

Accuracy and reliability

The statistics summarise the reports of illness that have triggered the payment of unemployment benefits. The expectation is that all sickness benefit cases with payment are reported. Therefore, the statistics can be expected to be accurate in relation to actual payments. However, some cases are not reported until long after the end of the period to which the case relates, which is why the last quarter is not fully updated. The delayed updates result in a revision the following year that is in the order of 0.5 per cent in an upward direction.

Timeliness and punctuality

The statistics are published annually at the beginning of April the year after the reference year. The statistics are usually published without delay in relation to the announced date

Comparability

The statistics are influenced by Danish legislation. Over the years, the period the employer must pay for in connection with illness has been increased from 14 days to 30 days, and as of December 2012, the right to receive sickness benefits on public holidays was cancelled.

Accessibility and clarity

These statistics are published in a Danish press release at the same time as the tables are updated in the StatBank. In the StatBank, these statistics can be found under the subject Sickness benefits. For further information, gp to the subject page.