In its report on 2023, drawn up on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) presents trends in employment, accidents at work and occupational illnesses, pensions and incapacity for work. Taking all years together, the number of fatal accidents at work and commuting accidents has never been so low.<\/p>\n
In 2023, the number of people in work reached 43.1 million, an increase of 0.6 million compared with 2022, out of a total population of 83.9 million. The rate of part-time work has increased, reaching 50% for women and 13% for men.<\/p>\n
The number of notifiable accidents at work continued to fall (838,792). At 18.8 accidents per 1,000 full-time equivalents, the accident rate is lower than in previous years. And in all years, fewer people died as a result of accidents at work (499) or commuting accidents (225).<\/p>\n
With regard to occupational illnesses, both the number of notifications (150,368) and the number of cases recognised (74,930) have fallen significantly compared with 2022. However, the latter number remains higher than before the pandemic (84,853 in 2019). The number of people who died from an occupational disease is similar to the previous year (2,151). A large proportion of these deaths were due to asbestos (62%).<\/p>\n
In 2023, employees were unable to work for an average of 21 days. This resulted in a total of 886.2 million days of incapacity for work for the year. The report also reveals that the employment rate for women is still lower than that for men (73.6% compared with 80.8%).<\/p>\n