Workforce · Brazil
Brazil: work absences for mental health conditions have doubled in ten years
Ministry of Social Security data shows roughly 440,000 workers were granted leave in 2024 for depression, anxiety, or related conditions.
Agência Brasil's reporting on the Ministério da Previdência Social data finds that the number of Brazilian workers granted disability leave for depressive, anxious, or stress-related conditions rose from roughly 203,000 in 2014 to about 440,000 in 2024 — more than a 100% increase in a decade.
The article situates the trend alongside reforms to labor law and a broader public conversation about workplace mental health, including the Norma Regulamentadora 1 (NR-1) update that obligates employers to assess psychosocial risk.
Read Agência Brasil's full report (in Portuguese) for the underlying data and context.
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