Belgium: Depression and Burnout Long-Term Disability Jumps 32%
More than 155,000 Belgians were in long-term work disability due to depression or burnout in 2025, a 5.2% increase from the previous year and a 32% jump since 2021, according to new data from the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI). The figures underscore a deepening mental health crisis in the Belgian workforce.
A Growing Share of Long-Term Disability
Mental health disorders have become the leading cause of long-term disability in Belgium, surpassing musculoskeletal conditions. At the end of 2025, 38.3% of all people in long-term disability — more than 576,000 workers — suffered from a mental health disorder, and 70.4% of those were diagnosed with depression or burnout, RTBF reports. Depression and burnout now account for one in four long-term disabilities.
The financial burden is equally significant. The cost of long-term disability due to depression or burnout exceeded 2.5 billion euros in 2024, a 12% increase in a single year and a 78% rise since 2019, according to La Libre. The total cost to the state for all long-term sick people approaches 10 billion euros annually.
Who Is Most Affected?
Women represent 69% of long-term disability cases due to depression or burnout, with the increase from 2021 to 2025 reaching 33.2% for women and 30.3% for men. More than half (53.2%) of those affected are aged 50 or older, a group that saw a particularly sharp rise of 17.9% in 2025 — largely attributed to the raising of the legal pension age from 65 to 66 on January 1, 2025, according to INAMI data.
Independent workers have been disproportionately affected, with a 65% increase in long-term disability due to depression or burnout between 2021 and 2025, including a 12.8% rise in 2025 alone. Business AM notes that self-employed workers face increasingly precarious economic conditions, particularly in sectors like hospitality.
Young people under 30 saw a 61.5% increase over the four-year period, though this slowed to just 1.3% in 2025, suggesting the trend may be stabilizing for the youngest workers.
Expert Perspectives on the Causes
Work psychologist Aline Durant, founder of a specialized center for professional exhaustion victims, describes burnout as a “phenomenon of saturation” driven by multiple factors. “The causes are multifactorial,” she told RTBF. “When someone is on leave for burnout or depression, the care pathways are not always easy or adapted. This causes long-term or very long-term absences where recovery is difficult.”
Durant points to the intensification of work, digitalization, and the blurring of boundaries between professional and private life as key drivers. For older workers, the constant need to adapt to new technologies — including artificial intelligence — adds another layer of stress.
Bart Teuwen, absenteeism expert at prevention service Mensura, warns that young people remain particularly vulnerable. “We’ve seen for several years now that it’s especially the young group that’s affected by burnouts and depressions,” he said in an earlier RTBF report. “We need to put even more attention on prevention.”
Government Response and Criticism
The federal government has made the return-to-work of long-term sick people a top priority, introducing stricter reintegration obligations and sanctions for those who refuse participation. The reform, debated in Parliament in December 2025, includes benefit reductions of at least 10% for persistent refusal and new employer obligations for companies with more than 50 employees, according to the N-VA.
However, the approach has drawn criticism. The Observatoire des Maladies Chroniques, part of INAMI’s Scientific Council, issued an opinion in August 2026 arguing that the public and political discourse on long-term work disability is increasingly characterized by “stigmatization and mistrust,” as La Libre reports. The Observatory contends the government focuses too much on sanctions and not enough on prevention and the conditions for returning to work.
What to Watch For
As Belgium’s mental health crisis deepens, the effectiveness of the government’s reintegration policies will be closely monitored. Key questions remain: Can prevention efforts keep pace with rising burnout rates? Will the pension age increase continue to inflate disability statistics? And can the healthcare system adapt its care pathways to better support those suffering from depression and burnout? The coming years will determine whether the 32% surge represents a peak or the beginning of a longer trend.