The graph illustrates the percentage of workers who were absent due to illness for a day or more from five different European countries: the Netherlands, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany, over a 20-year period, from 1991 to 2001.
Overall, the share of workers from the Netherlands and Sweden showed increasing trends, while the workers in France experienced a fall in percentages. Also, in the United Kingdom and Germany, these percentages fluctuated around 2% throughout the whole period.
Initially, France had the leading percentage at 5% in 1991, followed closely by the Netherlands at slightly less than that number. Sweden was ranked third at 3%, and the United Kingdom and Germany approximately started at 2% in the same year.
Not long after, the Netherlands surpassed France and experienced a peak at slightly less than 6% in 1992, ranking first among all the other countries and remaining so until the end of the period. Meanwhile, France’s percentage continued to decrease until 1996 and remained slightly more than 3% thereafter. In contrast, Sweden initiated a decline from the same year, reaching almost 5% by the end, in 2001.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom and Germany did not show any dramatic changes. The United Kingdom remained above and Germany stayed below 2% throughout the whole time.