The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than two and a half million were not working due to health problems and long-term sickness has risen to a new record.
There has also been a rise in mental health issues in younger people, along with back and neck pain, with home working being a possible cause.
Job vacancies have fallen again as firms pull back on recruitment, although the number still remains high; however, a rise in part-time and self-employed workers have pushed up the employment rate.
This, coupled with wages failing to increase in line with the rising cost of living, seem to be contributing factors in the record number of the UK workforce not working.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said that since the pandemic started there are “well over 400,000 more people outside of the labour market due to ill health and that means we are now at a new record level of comfortably over two and a half million”.
He added that the ONS had also seen an increase in “conditions related to mental health, particularly in the young” as well as people having musculoskeletal issues.
“We’ve also seen an increase in the category that includes post-viral fatigue so perhaps long Covid having an impact.”
ONS figures showed that the employment rate edged up to 75.9% between January and March, and that the unemployment rate also rose slightly to 3.9%.
Also significant is the number of working days lost to strikes, which rose to 556,000 in March 2023 (up from 332,000 in February) with walkouts in the health and education sectors accounting for four-fifths of the total.
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said: “It’s encouraging that the unemployment rate remains historically low but difficulty in finding staff and rising prices are a worry for many families and businesses.
“That’s why we must stick to our plan to halve inflation and help families with the cost of living, while delivering our childcare reforms and supporting older people and disabled people who want to work.”