Workplace stress and burnout statistics

Work can protect mental health, and it can harm it. Long hours, heavy workloads, little control, job insecurity, bullying and harassment all raise the risk of poor mental health.

Burnout is not a medical diagnosis. The World Health Organization's ICD-11 lists burn-out (code QD85) as an occupational phenomenon. It describes the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, and it applies only to work. It sits among the factors that influence health, not among mental disorders.

So the burnout figures here come from questionnaires, not diagnoses. Other figures count stress, depression or anxiety that workers link to their job. Some count time off work, compensation claims or working days lost. Each figure names its group, its measure and its source.

Worldwide

These estimates come from the World Health Organization. More than half the world's workers are in the informal economy, with no legal protection for health and safety.

• An estimated 16% of working-age adults worldwide had a mental disorder in 2023. (modelled estimate, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹
• Worldwide, depression and anxiety cost an estimated 12 billion working days every year. (modelled estimate, published 2026, year not stated, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹
• That lost productivity costs an estimated US$ 1 trillion a year worldwide. (modelled estimate, published 2026, year not stated, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹

Europe

The European Union figures come from the Labour Force Survey of working-age people, collected in a pandemic year. The Great Britain figures come from the Health and Safety Executive, based on what workers report in the Labour Force Survey. They count new and long-standing cases.

• In the European Union, 44.6% of employed people aged 15 to 64 said they faced risks to their mental well-being at work in 2020. (survey, 2020 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ²
• In the European Union, 1.9% of current and former workers aged 15 to 64 named stress, depression or anxiety as their most serious work-related health problem in 2020. (survey, past 12 months, 2020 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ²
• In Great Britain, an estimated 1.9 million workers had work-related ill health of any kind in 2024/25, counting new and long-standing cases. (survey, 2024/25 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ³
• Of those workers, 52% had stress, depression or anxiety, the largest single type of work-related illness, in 2024/25. (survey, 2024/25 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ³

North America

The United States figures describe health workers only, from a national survey of employed adults. Burnout was one question about feeling used up. The Canadian figures come from questions added to the Labour Force Survey, a national household survey.

• In the United States, 45.6% of health workers said they felt burned out often or very often in 2022, answering a single survey question. (survey, 2022 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 19.0% of health workers said they felt burned out very often in 2022. (survey, 2022 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the same survey in 2018, the share was 11.6%. (survey, 2018 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In Canada, 21.2% of employed people aged 15 to 69 said they had high or very high levels of work-related stress in 2023. (survey, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁵
• Among people employed in health care and social assistance in Canada, 27.3% reported high or very high work-related stress in 2023, the highest of any industry. (survey, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁵
• In Canada, 7.5% of employed people had taken time off work because of stress or for mental health reasons in the year before the 2023 survey. (survey, past 12 months, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁵

South America

Brazil's figures come from a national survey of doctors who work in intensive care units. They describe that group, not all workers.

• In Brazil, 68.9% of physicians working in intensive care units met the study's definition of burnout, an altered score on at least one of the three Maslach scales, in 2024. (survey, 2024 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁶
• In the same survey, 9.0% had altered scores on all three scales. (survey, 2024 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁶

Africa

Nigeria's figure comes from a survey of doctors in five tertiary hospitals, the large hospitals that take referrals. It is not a national sample.

• In Nigeria, 75.5% of physicians in five tertiary hospitals who answered the survey met the study's definition of burnout on the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory in 2019. (survey, 2019 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁷

Asia

China's figure comes from a national online survey of doctors in large public hospitals.

• In China, 31.28% of physicians in 144 tertiary public hospitals across all 31 provinces met the study's definition of burnout on the Maslach Burnout Inventory in 2019. (survey, 2019 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁸

Oceania

Australia's figures count serious workers' compensation claims, meaning claims with at least one week off work. The latest year's figures are preliminary. A claim measures something different from a survey answer.

• In Australia, mental health conditions made up 12% of serious workers' compensation claims in 2023-24. (administrative records, 2023-24 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁹
• In Australia, mental stress was the cause of 11.5% of serious workers' compensation claims in 2023-24. (administrative records, 2023-24 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁹
• Among those mental stress claims, harassment or workplace bullying accounted for 33.2%. (administrative records, 2023-24 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁹
• Work pressure accounted for 24.2% of those mental stress claims. (administrative records, 2023-24 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁹

Burnout among doctors and health workers

These surveys used different questionnaires, cut-offs and groups. Read each row with its label, and do not rank the countries.

How to read these figures

A burnout score is not a diagnosis. Questionnaires such as the Maslach and Oldenburg inventories measure exhaustion and distance from work, and each study sets its own cut-off.

Work-related stress, depression or anxiety is what workers report about their own health and its cause. It is not a clinical assessment.

Compensation figures count only serious claims, with at least a week off work. Do not compare them with survey figures.

Many surveys here cover one sector, such as health care. Their figures describe that sector, not the whole workforce.

Employers can reduce work stress. The World Health Organization recommends that employers manage risks such as heavy workloads, train managers to respond to distress, and offer flexible hours and return-to-work support. If stress at work is affecting your health, a therapist can help you work out what to change. Our guide on how to find the right therapist explains what to look for. If you are in distress right now, see our helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Workplace stress and burnout statistics. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/workplace-stress-and-burnout-2025-statistics-by-therapyroute. Last updated 9 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Mental health at work. World Health Organization, 15 September 2026 who.int.
2. [2] Self-reported work-related health problems and risk factors - key statistics. Eurostat, data extracted September 2021 ec.europa.eu.
3. [3] Work-related ill health and occupational disease in Great Britain. Health and Safety Executive, 7 January 2026 hse.gov.uk.
4. [4] Vital Signs: Health Worker-Perceived Working Conditions and Symptoms of Poor Mental Health, Quality of Worklife Survey, United States, 2018-2022. CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Nigam et al.), 3 November 2023 cdc.gov.
5. [5] Work-related stress most often caused by heavy workloads and work-life balance (The Daily). Statistics Canada, 19 June 2023 www150.statcan.gc.ca.
6. [6] Burnout and life satisfaction among physicians working in intensive care units in Brazil: a nationwide workforce survey. Critical Care Science (Rezende et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
7. [7] Physician burnout in Nigeria: a multicentre, cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research (Nwosu et al.), 14 September 2020 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
8. [8] Experience of Medical Disputes, Medical Disturbances, Verbal and Physical Violence, and Burnout Among Physicians in China. Frontiers in Psychology (Wu et al.), 2021 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
9. [9] Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025. Safe Work Australia, 16 October 2025 data.safeworkaustralia.gov.au.