The survey was carried out for the European Depression Association (EDA) in Britain, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Spain and France, according to BBC report.

Those in Britain, Denmark and Germany were most likely to be off work because of depression.

Overall, 20 percent of the 7,000 polled had received a diagnosis of depression at some point in their lives.

Among workers experiencing depression, those in Germany (61 percent), Denmark (60 percent), and Britain (58 percent) were most likely to take time off work, while those in Turkey were the least likely (25 percent), BBC said.

Researchers have estimated the cost of depression at 92 billion euro in 2010 across the European Union (EU), with lost productivity due to time off or under-performance accounting for most of the costs.

An average of 36 days were taken for the "last episode" of depression, but figures ranged from 41 in Britain to 23 in Italy.

The report said one in four workers with depression did not tell their employer, and one in three said they were worried it could put their job at risk.