New Study shows that Singaporeans are Among the World’s Most Sleep-Deprived

From the noisy neighbours, unfinished tasks, loud car alarms, hot and humid weather, to so many other factors… And people still wonder why we’re awake at 2-3 am on a weekday.

The night is always young in Singapore, as new research from YouGov Surveys says that Singapore is one of the few countries with the most residents sleeping less than 5 hours of sleep every night.

Losing the Sleep Competition

Researchers from YouGov Surveys investigated the sleeping hours of residents from 17 countries and found that more than half of the countries have residents who sleep seven or more hours on an average night.

This is considered ideal, as those who sleep any less than seven hours are considered sleep-deprived – and sleep deprivation is dangerous.

According to HealthHub Singapore, chronic sleep deprivation can result in:

1. Increased risk for road accidents (because you reaction time is slow)
2. Impaired cognitive functions (you can’t think, you can’t focus, you can’t solve problems)
3. Heart issues, Stroke and Diabetes
4. Lowered libido
5. Depression
6. Skin-ageing
7. Weight gain
8. Increased risk of death

… only to name a few.

Unfortunately, we’re not part of the ideal squad, as only 44 per cent of Singaporeans sleep seven or more hours. In other words, 56 per cent of us are sleep-deprived. Look at the red bars (labelled nicely by YouGov) below:

A Curse On Some Generations?

Singaporeans always want to win. We always want the best. We're kiasu for good reason.

YouGov found that sleep-deprived Singaporeans actually want to sleep more, about 80 per cent of us. We are among the top 5 countries with residents who want to sleep seven hours (55%). Suffering with us are our friends in Hong Kong (61%), Mexico (60%), Britain and Spain (59%) and Poland (56%), who also want to sleep longer.

As of now, we are unsure what the specific stats are for the different age groups in Singapore. However, there is a YouGov survey from 2022 which found that GenZs and Millenials who are sleep-deprived wake up in the middle of the night more frequently than seniors.

That means that younger people are more likely to suffer from poorer sleep quality. This is not a surprise, since Singapore Business Review found that Singaporeans are more likely to stay late to do work, instead of sticking to the 9-5, and our mental health is poor.

 

World Sleep Day

Reader: Why call me out like this? What do you want me to do?

I hope all this sleep talk hasn't put you to bed yet. The survey results are released just in time for World Sleep Day, which is expected to commence on Friday (15 Mar).

It is an initiative by World Sleep Society, founded by the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) and World Sleep Federation (WSF). Their work is focused on increasing awareness of the importance of sleep and its implications, as well as providing resources for sleep-related medical professionals to succeed.

With that said, I wish you a happy World Sleep Day - may you sleep better and find a wind-down routine that works for you. If not, ask your boss if you can sleep in just a little more today.