People in Japan, Taiwan and Sweden have the biggest struggle with insomnia globally, searching for 'can't sleep' more than any other country around the world.
Overall, Japanese people sleep on average 7 hours and 22 minutes a day, the shortest time among the 33 countries, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the OECD. The survey covered 30 OECD members, including Japan, as well as China, India and South Africa.
Most Australians experience insomnia at some point in their lives, and about 1 in 10 people have at least mild insomnia at any given time. It is more common in women and elderly people. Insomnia can include: difficulty getting to sleep.
According to the data analyzed by the Online Bulletin and PR Service B2Press New Zealand, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that sleep the most, while almost 50 percent of the people in Turkey state that they sleep 8 hours a day, which increases to 10 hours on weekends.
According to a 2021 survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Japanese sleep an average of seven hours and 22 minutes. This is the shortest duration among the member countries and almost an hour less than the OECD average of 8 hours and 24 minutes.
China is the only country where people get an average of more than 7 hours of sleep per night. Countries like Hong Kong and Thailand are quite close to 7 hours of sleep. This could be because most Asian cities are a lot more densely populated.
But no other group of people takes their naps quite as seriously as those living in Spain. The siesta - which means "a midday or afternoon rest or nap" - has become a big part of Spanish culture. Many businesses in Barcelona and other parts of the country still shut down every day so that siestas can take place.
“While all the stages of sleep are important to the cycle, stage 3 is the deepest, most restful sleep. During this stage, your body releases hormones that help repair muscles, bones and tissues, and your brain works on consolidating your memories,” says Dr. Ghacibeh.
Adequate sleep is vital for your health, but can be hard to achieve when life is busy. Sleeping problems are common, with up to 4 in 10 Australian adults not getting enough good-quality sleep.
Nearly half (48%) of all Australian adults report at least 2 sleep-related problems. Too much or too little sleep is associated with an increased risk of chronic health conditions and risk factors. In Australian men, sleep apnoea is associated with an increased odds of chronic health conditions and risk factors.
Anyone can get insomnia, but it affects more women than men. More than one in four women in the United States experience insomnia, compared with fewer than one in five men.
Although New York City may be the most prominently recognized city termed "The City That Never Sleeps", and the city's subway system never closes, the term has been applied to other cities.
While there are many contributing factors, cultural norms and work ethic are two of the biggest reasons people in Japan don't get enough sleep. Hopefully, as more people become aware of the importance of sleep, they will start to make changes that will help them get the rest they need.
Average sleep
As a general rule, most nations get around seven hours of sleep per night, which makes Japan's national average fairly shocking. There are a number of hypotheses on why the country is so sleep deprived, including the long working hours and long commutes.
In general, the best nap length for adults is about 20 minutes and no longer than 30 minutes. Sleeping for 20 minutes allows the napper to get a bit of light sleep to boost alertness without entering into deep sleep. Waking up from deep sleep can cause grogginess and actually worsen sleepiness.
Although most people associate the siesta with Spain, the practice actually originated with ancient Romans in Italy, where it is called a riposo. Similar midday nap breaks are common around the Mediterranean and in many Latin American countries, where the midday is often hot.
Meaning sleep can become quite rare thing. Therefore, many Japanese workers are known to take a powernap at work – mostly in secret, sat on a toilet seat. Not ideal and so last year, two Japanese companies, Koyoju Plywood Corporation and Itoki, even decided to join forces in order to develop a solution to that problem.
“This large study suggests that going to sleep between 10 and 11pm could be the sweet spot for most people to keep their heart healthy long-term.
Given that an average a person sleeps for 8 hours in a day, that means that an average person will sleep for 229,961 hours in their lifetime or basically one third of their life. That's precious time which could have been spent watching Die Hard 105,325 times.
Among a list of 13 factors, 30 per cent of Australian respondents said financial or economic issues kept them up at night, with a further 23 per cent saying work caused the most sleepless nights. Only 18 per cent said technology, such as smartphones or tablets, was the biggest reason they couldn't get to sleep.
half of Australians (50%) are now getting up earlier, with 59% waking up before 7am; 43% of Australians changed their morning routines due to COVID; the top three things Australians do before 9am now include: eating breakfast with the family (28%); starting work early (27%); and cleaning the house (24%);