Workers in Germany aged 60 to 65 took an average of 31.3 days of sick leave in 2024, compared with 15 days for workers overall, figures reported by DW show.
The figures were released by the Health Ministry in response to a question from the Left party in the Bundestag. They also show that 96,100 people in the age group took at least a year of sick leave in 2024, up from about 80,300 in 2022.
Left party spokesperson Sarah Vollath called the numbers a “clear warning sign” and said workers cannot “keep working forever.” She argued that plans to raise the standard retirement age fail to reflect the realities faced by older workers.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government has made pension reform one of its priorities. The plans cited in the report include raising the standard retirement age to 67.
The figures compare absence among workers aged 60 to 65 with the average across all workers. The data cited in the report do not establish why sick leave increased among older employees or whether the figures reflect particular health conditions.
Reid Bentley 
Nicole French