A survey of more than 530 firms for the Confederation of British Industry estimated that 200m days were lost through sickness absence last year, an average of 8.5 days per worker.

The cost to business works out at £426 for every employee, while 3.7% of all working time was lost.

The figures are slightly down on 1997, when the cost was estimated at £11 billion and £478 per worker, although the average number of days lost was broadly the same at 8.4 per worker.

Blue-collar workers sicklier

Manual workers took more time off than non-manual staff last year, with an average of 9.4 days compared to 7.6 days.

"Absence remains a significant cost to business, and employers need to benchmark themselves against others in their sector or region to ensure they are not facing unnecessarily high costs," said John Cridland, the CBI's human resources policy director.

"While minor illnesses remain the major cause of absence, workplace stress, family responsibilities and personal problems are also significant causes of time off work."