Long-term absenteeism in Belgium at record high

23 October 2025

Long-term absenteeism in Belgium has reached a new record high, according to figures released on Thursday by HR services provider Securex.

During the first half of this year, absences lasting more than a year rose by 4 per cent to 3.51 per cent, representing 105,086 employees on long-term sick leave.

Part-time employees

Securex highlights a particularly sharp increase among part-time employees, where absenteeism has grown four times faster than among full-time workers. Over the past eleven years, the proportion of long-term sick leave among part-time staff has more than doubled from 2.13 per cent in early 2014 to 5.41 per cent in the first half of 2025. For full-time employees, the increase was more gradual, from 2.15 per cent to 2.99 per cent over the same period.

“As a result, employees with part-time contracts currently have almost twice as many days off work due to long-term illness,” Securex reports.

Personal and professional pressures

“Our research shows that part-time employees often experience a higher personal burden, such as caring for children and/or parents,” says Stephanie Heurterre, senior HR consultant at Securex. “Moreover, part-time employees often work in sectors with specific employment conditions that can also play a role. This complex interplay, sometimes combined with financial concerns, makes this group more vulnerable to exhaustion and long-term absence.”

The Securex analysis aligns with broader national figures showing that long-term illness continues to weigh heavily on the Belgian labour market. At the end of 2023, a record number of more than half a million people were unable to work for over a year, of whom around 300,000 were receiving benefits until retirement.

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The National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (RIZIV–INAMI) and health insurance funds have since begun reassessing files of those declared “permanently” incapacitated, under new rules introduced in July 2024. These reforms limit permanent incapacity to the most severe conditions, with the aim of helping those who are able to return to work.

According to Securex, health-related vulnerabilities also explain part of the gap between full-time and part-time staff. “Someone with health problems is more likely to subsequently work part-time. And those who already experience health problems are more likely to become long-term absent,” the organisation notes.

Despite the overall rise in long-term absenteeism, Securex points to one encouraging sign. For the first time since 2021, the number of medium-term absences (those lasting between one month and one year) has stabilised, falling from 2.53 per cent to 2.46 per cent. Short-term absences, lasting less than a month, remained steady at 2.73 per cent.

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