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2.5 million workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry in 2024, down 3.1 percent from 2023

March 23, 2026

Private industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, down 3.1 percent from 2023. This decrease was driven by a 26.0-percent drop in illness cases to 148,000, the lowest number reported since 2019. The 2024 incidence rate of total recordable cases in private industry was 2.3 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers, down from 2.4 in 2023. This was the lowest total recordable cases rate for this data series going back to 2003.

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Injury and illness case counts, private industry, 2015–2024
Year	Total recordable cases	Injuries	Illnesses
2015	2,905,900	2,765,300	140,500
2016	2,857,400	2,719,800	137,500
2017	2,811,500	2,685,100	126,400
2018	2,834,500	2,707,800	126,800
2019	2,814,000	2,686,800	127,200
2020	2,654,700	2,110,100	544,600
2021	2,607,900	2,242,700	365,200
2022	2,804,200	2,343,600	460,700
2023	2,569,000	2,368,900	200,100
2024	2,488,400	2,340,400	148,000

The decrease in illnesses was due to a 46.1-percent decrease in respiratory illness cases, down to 54,000 cases in 2024.

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Respiratory illnesses and all illnesses case counts, private industry, 2019–2024
Year	Respiratory illnesses	All illnesses
2019	10,800	127,200
2020	428,700	544,600
2021	269,600	365,200
2022	365,000	460,700
2023	100,200	200,100
2024	54,000	148,000

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more about injuries and illnesses in the workplace, see “Employer-reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses —2023–2024.” Also see more charts on nonfatal work injuries and illnesses.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 2.5 million workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry in 2024, down 3.1 percent from 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/2-5-million-workplace-injuries-and-illnesses-in-private-industry-in-2024-down-3-1-percent-from-2023.htm (visited March 25, 2026).

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