Overview
- Spain recorded about 8.6 million temporary incapacity episodes in 2024, with public spending rising to €16.5 billion and average duration increasing to 45.9 days from 40 in 2017.
- Mental-health leaves have grown sharply and now last nearly 100 days on average, far longer than other diagnoses, highlighting limited public mental-health capacity.
- AIReF underscores recurrence as a key driver: 25% of workers account for 55% of episodes, repeat starters rose from 23% (2017) to 31.8% (2024), and a prior-year leave raises the odds of another by 250%.
- Shorter processes have surged most: cases that do not entail public cost grew 78% as their average duration fell, while those implying public cost rose 28.9%, pointing to gaps in early control.
- The watchdog recommends intensive protocols for repeat cases, specialized management units, and early-warning analytics, while the government says it is committed and cites INSS workload pressures.