Substantial drop in number of work-related claims during Covid lockdown

Compared with 2019, 22,200 fewer work-related claims were made in 2020, reflecting the national COVID-19 lockdown, Stats NZ said today.

In 2020, a total of 217,500 work-related injury claims were made to Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) or ACC-accredited employers – a drop of 9.3 percent from 2019. This was the largest annual drop in the number of work-related claims since the beginning of the series in 2002.

“During the national COVID-19 lockdown in the first half of 2020, roughly 4 in 10 employed people worked from home, and many more were away from work entirely, which coincided with a large drop in work-related injury claims lodged during this period,” labour market statistics manager Andrew Neal said.

More information on Four in 10 employed New Zealanders work from home during lockdown.

“Every region and occupation saw a decrease in the number of work-related claims in 2020 compared with 2019. The only two industries to have an increase were the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry and the health care and social assistance industry,” Mr Neal said.

Every industry experienced a decline in the number of work-related claims made from the end of March to early May 2020.

The five industries with the highest number of work-related claims in 2020 were:

• construction – 36,200, down 1,100 annually
• manufacturing – 35,000, down 2,700 annually
• agriculture, forestry, and fishing – 26,800, up 1,900 annually
• health care and social assistance – 14,900, up 400 annually
• retail trade – 14,400, down 100 annually.

These five industries made up 59 percent of all work-related claims in 2020.