The Bupa Wellbeing Index

September 2025

Health in the workplace is one of the biggest issues facing the UK. At the time of publishing this report, 2.83 million people are economically inactive due to health reasons, up 800,000 since 2019. The number of people with work-limiting health conditions is also up by over two million, to a total in excess of eight million.

This is having a direct and detrimental impact for businesses and individuals, affecting productivity and costing the economy around £132bn a year.

Against this backdrop, the government has set an 80% employment target with the aim of kick-starting economic growth. Achieving this goal will depend on making workplace health and wellbeing a top priority for both policymakers and employers.

The Government’s Keep Britain Working Review and its focus on the prevention of ill health is an opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people. At Bupa, we’re proud to contribute to this vital national conversation.

There is evidence that work is good for you. It offers benefits for physical, mental and social health. But workforce trends including an ageing population, increasing pressure on young people’s mental health and the gender gap mean that employers need support to keep their workforces healthy.

The role of healthcare providers to support employers and employees is crucial – our NHS cannot meet the increasing demand for healthcare on its own. Over the past 75 years, we have worked side by side with the NHS to meet the nation’s healthcare needs. We want to continue playing our part in providing choice, fast access to healthcare and reinvesting our profits to create more capacity in the UK healthcare system.

We know early intervention can lead to better health outcomes. For this, we are committed to investing in prevention services such as our Blua digital platform and Well+ GP subscription, as well as our innovation in genomics and plan to open 70 mental health centres by 2027. At the same time, we are building facilities and investing in people to build rewarding careers in healthcare, for example with our £6m Clinical Training Academy, to play our part in attracting healthcare professionals to the UK and create a world-class workforce.

In doing so, we want fewer patients to reach chronic stages of pain and illness, require less intensive treatment over the long run and thereby reduce pressure on critical healthcare services.

Our latest Bupa Wellbeing Index investigates the current state of workplace health and wellbeing across the nation. We survey employers and employees, and look at claims and usage trends, to gain a true picture of what is needed to improve workplace health.

As the leading provider of healthcare services to businesses across the UK, from FTSE100 organisations to SMEs, we are committed to playing our part in keeping the UK’s workforce in good health and enjoy rewarding long-term careers.

Throughout this report, we are calling on employees, employers and government to work together to promote and deliver better workplace health.

By working together, we believe we can deliver on the needs of the modern worker and reverse the trend of health concerns limiting the work they can do, creating a healthy future for both employers and employees in the UK.

At Bupa we produce free health information for you and those around you. Find information about conditions, treatments and procedures. You’ll also find advice from our experts about staying healthy and living well.