Stats: 51% of Adults Worldwide Don’t Get Enough Sleep

More than half (51%) of adults worldwide report they get less sleep than they need on an average night, and 80 percent of adults say they are using weekend days to make up for sleep lost during the week, according to Princess Cruises’ ninth annual Relaxation Report. This year marks the first time Princess has expanded the study to a global audience, adding representation from Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, United Kingdom, and Australia.

The global results of the study, which was conducted by Wakefield Research, are surprisingly similar across different countries, Princess said.

One way employees can set aside time to relax is to take a vacation, and the survey found that a little over half of those surveyed (55%) took all of the vacation days available to them in the last year with the UK respondents at the top of the list (76%) and the Japanese at the bottommost (28%). Of those who did not use all of their vacation days, the top reasons are:

  • They had too much work to get done (38%)
  • They couldn’t find a good time to take off (34%)
  • There was a lack of support at work to take time off (25%)

And when using their vacation days, 75 percent of those who are employed take days off to catch up on sleep – seven days on average per year.

Americans and Relaxation

Resting Rituals – Technology is a major culprit that can keep a mind and body from winding down. Yet, most (68%) Americans watch TV before turning in, 39% look at social media. 

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows – Outside of night-time rituals, the current events of the day can impact sleep as well.  As it turns out, today’s tense political climate has a lot of people on edge, making it harder for them to relax. In fact, nearly three in five (59%) Americans admit as much.

Skewed Priorities – From the realities of the world at large to responsibilities at work and home, taking time to give our minds and bodies a break is key.  Few Americans dedicate time to relax each day. More than three in four Americans (78%) do not set aside time to unwind every day, unchanged from 2017.

Vacation Neglect – Nearly half (46%) of working Americans with vacation did not use all the time available to them over the past 12 months.  This is up significantly from 2017, when just under two in five (39%) did the same.

Working For the Weekend – Nearly three-fourths (72%) of Americans use weekends to make up for sleep they lost during the week.

Some Global Comparisons

The Most Sleep Deprived Countries – Adults getting somewhat less or much less sleep than needed

  • UK: 63 percent
  • Singapore: 62 percent
  • Australia: 61 percent
  • U.S.: 58 percent
  • China and Korea: 53 percent
  • Taiwan and Japan: 49 percent
  • Hong Kong: 48 percent
  • Malaysia: 47 percent
  • Vietnam: 38 percent
  • Indonesia: 34 percent

Use of Weekends by County to Catch Up On Sleep

  • Vietnam: 92 percent
  • China: 90 percent
  • Hong Kong: 87 percent
  • Indonesia: 85 percent
  • Taiwan: 84 percent
  • Singapore and Malaysia: 82 percent
  • Korean: 81 percent
  • Australia: 73 percent
  • U.S.: 72 percent
  • UK and Japan: 66 percent

Days Taken off by Country per Year (on average) to Catch Up on Sleep

  • Vietnam – 11 days
  • Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia – 9 days
  • China – 8 days
  • Hong Kong – 7 days
  • Singapore and Australia – 6 days
  • UK and U.S. – 5 days
  • Korea – 4 days
  • Japan – 3 days

Source: Princess Cruises

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