Workplace rehabilitation spans clinical recovery, work accommodation, vocational support and return-to-work planning. The statistics below separate modeled rehabilitation need from work-related illness, absence, restricted work, insurance coverage and trial outcomes across global, national and study populations.
Key Workplace Rehabilitation Statistics
The most broadly useful workplace rehabilitation statistics are:
- 2.4 billion people globally had a condition that could have benefited from rehabilitation in 2019, according to a modeled estimate covering all conditions, not only work-related cases.
- Global modeled rehabilitation need increased 63% between 1990 and 2019, which measures need rather than service use.
- 144.7 million people globally had developed post-COVID-19 condition by the end of 2021, an estimate for a population in which rehabilitation may help symptoms.
- As much as 50% of people needing rehabilitation in low- and middle-income countries may not receive it, according to a WHO estimate.
- 1.7 million workers in Great Britain had new or long-standing work-related ill health in 2023/24, based on a self-reported Labour Force Survey estimate.
- 543,000 Great Britain workers had work-related musculoskeletal disorders in 2023/24, including new and long-standing cases.
- Work-related musculoskeletal disorders caused 7.8 million working days lost in Great Britain in 2023/24, based on self-reports.
- 776,000 Great Britain workers reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2023/24, including new and long-standing cases.
- U.S. private-industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023, under the employer-reported SOII scope.
- 946,500 U.S. private-industry cases involved days away from work in 2023, excluding every restricted-work case.
- 581,000 U.S. private-industry cases involved job transfer or restricted activity in 2023, a measure that is not the same as formal rehabilitation participation.
- 37.4% of workers globally were covered by employment-injury insurance in the latest ILO global estimate used in the 2024–26 report.
- About 395 million nonfatal work-related injuries globally each year result in more than four days of absence, according to an ILO estimate.
- Great Britain’s workplace injury and new-ill-health cost was estimated at £22.9 billion in 2023/24, using the HSE cost model.
- Individuals bore an estimated £13.4 billion of Great Britain’s 2023/24 workplace injury and new-ill-health costs, compared with modeled shares for employers and government.
- 64.2% of analyzed participants in an England-and-Wales stroke vocational-rehabilitation trial returned to work for at least two hours weekly at 12 months, compared with 59.4% receiving usual care.
- Telephone follow-up in a Norwegian occupational-rehabilitation trial produced 1.87 times the odds of re-entering competitive work after one year, among people on long-term sick leave with selected chronic conditions.
- Recurrence among employed Canadian claimants was 4.5% with motivational interviewing versus 9.1% in controls, in a post-rehabilitation cluster randomized trial.
Contents
- Global workplace rehabilitation need and scale
- Work-related illness and musculoskeletal rehabilitation data
- Absence, work restrictions and return-to-work measures
- Workplace rehabilitation costs and protection coverage
- Return-to-work trial outcomes
- Workplace rehabilitation trends and measured gaps
Global Workplace Rehabilitation Need and Scale
WHO’s global picture is a measure of potential need, not a registry of employees receiving workplace rehabilitation. In 2019, an estimated 2.4 billion people had a condition that could have benefited from rehabilitation, contributing an estimated 310 million years lived with disability worldwide.
The estimate is based on Global Burden of Disease work and covers all conditions, so it is broader than work-related rehabilitation. (WHO, Strengthening rehabilitation in health systems)
WHO’s modeled estimate of global rehabilitation need increased 63% between 1990 and 2019. That change describes the burden of potential need, not a measured increase in rehabilitation appointments, workplace programs or participation. (WHO, Strengthening rehabilitation in health systems)
The same source gives two important access indicators:
- An estimated 144.7 million people had developed post-COVID-19 condition by the end of 2021, for which rehabilitation can help alleviate symptoms; this is not equivalent to diagnosed workplace rehabilitation demand.
- Access to assistive products is as low as 3% in some low-income countries, while as much as 50% of people needing rehabilitation in low- and middle-income countries may not receive it.
These figures distinguish rehabilitation need and access from employment outcomes. They also show why a global estimate cannot be read as a count of work-related cases or as a participation rate.
Work-Related Illness and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Data
Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive provides a detailed work-related health snapshot for 2023/24. The Labour Force Survey estimated 1.7 million workers with new or long-standing work-related ill health and 609,000 workers with a new case; the figures are self-reported estimates among people who worked in the previous 12 months. (HSE, Health and safety at work: Summary statistics for Great Britain 2024)
Musculoskeletal and mental-health measures show why rehabilitation demand cannot be reduced to one diagnosis:
| Work-related measure | Great Britain, 2023/24 | Definition or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal disorders | 543,000 workers | New and long-standing self-reported cases |
| New musculoskeletal disorder cases | 168,000 workers | Self-reported new cases |
| Back disorders | 232,000 workers | Affected-area classification within MSD cases |
| Upper-limb or neck disorders | 203,000 workers | Affected-area classification within MSD cases |
| Lower-limb disorders | 108,000 workers | Affected-area classification within MSD cases |
Work-related MSDs caused an estimated 7.8 million working days lost in Great Britain in 2023/24. Lost days are an absence measure, not a count of rehabilitation days or treatment episodes. (HSE, Health and safety at work: Summary statistics for Great Britain 2024)
Stress, depression or anxiety affected 776,000 workers in the same period, including 300,000 workers with new cases, and caused 16.4 million working days lost. These figures are self-reported work-related mental ill-health and absence estimates, not direct measures of rehabilitation utilization. (HSE, Health and safety at work: Summary statistics for Great Britain 2024)
For 2024/25, HSE reported a work-related ill-health rate of 5,360 cases per 100,000 workers. Work-related MSDs represented 27% of work-related ill-health cases, while work-related stress, depression or anxiety represented 52%; both are rounded category shares with all work-related ill health as the denominator. (HSE, Key figures for Great Britain 2024 to 2025)
Absence, Work Restrictions and Return-to-Work Measures
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data measure employer-reported private-industry cases, with rates based on full-time-equivalent workers rather than headcount. Employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023, down 8.4% from 2022; the total recordable case rate was 2.4 per 100 FTE workers. (BLS, Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses—2023)
| U.S. private-industry measure | 2023 result | Measurement definition |
|---|---|---|
| Injury incidence | 2.2 per 100 FTE | Employer-reported injury cases |
| Illness incidence | 19.0 per 10,000 FTE | Employer-reported illness cases |
| Days-away-from-work cases | 946,500 cases | Does not include every restricted-work case |
| DAFW incidence | 0.9 per 100 FTE | Cases involving days away from work |
| Job-transfer or restriction cases | 581,000 cases | Transfer or restricted activity, not necessarily rehabilitation |
| DJTR incidence | 0.6 per 100 FTE | Employer-reported job-transfer/restriction cases |
Days-away-from-work cases fell 20.1% from 2022 to 2023. Within U.S. DART cases in 2023, DAFW cases represented 62.0% and DJTR cases 38.0%; these are BLS case-definition shares, not service participation rates. (BLS, Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses—2023)
Great Britain’s 2024/25 headline statistics estimated 680,000 working people sustained an injury at work, while 59,219 employee injuries were reported under RIDDOR. The Labour Force Survey estimate and statutory reporting count have different scopes, and neither is a rehabilitation count. (HSE, Key figures for Great Britain 2024 to 2025)
Workplace Rehabilitation Costs and Protection Coverage
The ILO’s global employment-injury protection figures describe financial protection, not access to rehabilitation services. The latest global estimate used in its 2024–26 report found 37.4% of workers covered by employment-injury insurance, while the report estimated about 2.9 million worker deaths each year from work-related accidents and diseases and about 395 million nonfatal injuries each year resulting in more than four days of absence. (ILO, World Social Protection Report 2024–26, Chapter 4)
HSE’s Great Britain cost model estimated £22.9 billion in workplace injury and new work-related ill-health costs in 2023/24. It allocated £6.5 billion to injury and £16.4 billion to ill health; the model excludes pre-existing cases and includes valued human costs, so these are not rehabilitation-treatment invoices. (HSE, Costs to Great Britain of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related ill health—2023 to 2024)
The model’s average unit costs were estimated at £10,000 per workplace injury case and £24,200 per work-related ill-health case. Individuals bore an estimated £13.4 billion, compared with £4.3 billion for employers and £5.2 billion for government. (HSE, Costs to Great Britain of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related ill health—2023 to 2024)
Return-to-Work Trial Outcomes
Trial results are narrower than population statistics: each applies to a defined condition, eligibility group, comparator and follow-up period. They can show measured outcomes without establishing a universal effect for every workplace rehabilitation program.
| Trial and population | Rehabilitation outcome | Follow-up and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| England and Wales stroke RCT, ESSVR | 64.2% returned to work | At least 2 hours weekly at 12 months; analyzed participants |
| England and Wales stroke RCT, usual care | 59.4% returned to work | Same threshold and follow-up |
| Australia inpatient-rehabilitation subgroup, usual care | 57% returned to work | At 12 months; paid or unpaid work counted |
| Australia inpatient-rehabilitation subgroup, extra Saturday rehabilitation | 51% returned to work | At 12 months; no improvement versus usual care |
In the England-and-Wales stroke trial, the adjusted odds ratio for early supported stroke vocational rehabilitation versus usual care was 1.12, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.75–1.68. The interval crossed 1, and the trial reported no statistically significant difference; outcome data were available for 77.9% of randomized participants. (PubMed, Effectiveness of early vocational rehabilitation versus usual care to support return to work after stroke)
The German musculoskeletal aftercare trial had a 78.5% six-month questionnaire completion rate. Among severely disabled intervention participants, physical functioning at six months was better than among severely disabled controls, but the abstract did not provide a standardized effect size. (PubMed, Work-related rehabilitation aftercare for patients with musculoskeletal disorders)
Two other trials measured different forms of support:
- In Norway, telephone follow-up produced 1.87 times the odds of re-entering competitive work at least one day per week after one year among people with chronic pain, chronic fatigue or common mental disorders on long-term sick leave; the intervention cost €390.50 per participant. (PubMed, Randomized Controlled Trial of Adding Telephone Follow-Up to an Occupational Rehabilitation Program)
- In Canada, recurrence among employed injured-worker claimants was 4.5% with motivational interviewing versus 9.1% in controls. The adjusted odds ratio for benefit recurrence in controls relative to motivational interviewing was 2.7, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.1–6.5. (PubMed, Motivational Interviewing Improves Sustainable Return to Work in Injured Workers After Rehabilitation)
- In the Canadian trial, unemployed claimants receiving motivational interviewing averaged 8.2 days of partial temporary disability benefits versus 0.2 days in controls; partial-benefit days indicate modified-work transition in that compensation population, not total absence days. (PubMed, Motivational Interviewing Improves Sustainable Return to Work in Injured Workers After Rehabilitation)
Workplace Rehabilitation Trends and Measured Gaps
HSE reported that Great Britain’s current work-related ill-health rate in 2024/25 was higher than the 2018/19 pre-pandemic level. HSE also estimated 40.1 million working days lost to work-related illness and workplace injury in 2024/25, but the headline total does not isolate rehabilitation-eligible cases. (HSE, Key figures for Great Britain 2024 to 2025)
The cost data point in the same direction: HSE says ill health generated about 72% of the £22.9 billion 2023/24 modeled total, while injury generated about 28%. These are rounded shares of modeled costs, not observed spending shares or the proportion paid for rehabilitation. (HSE, Costs to Great Britain of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related ill health—2023 to 2024)
Taken together, the measures answer different questions. Global modeled need describes potential rehabilitation demand; surveys describe self-reported work-related conditions; employer records describe reportable cases; absence and restriction measures describe work impact; insurance coverage describes protection; and trials describe outcomes in selected populations.