59 Sleep Facts and Statistics

Regardless of who you are, you’ve probably found yourself wondering about your sleep habits at some point or another — are you getting enough sleep? Does the amount of sleep you get affect your mental health? And of course, “Am I the only one dealing with this?” Wonder no more —  Sleepopolis’s sleep facts and statistics database compiles a wide variety of facts to help put some of those burning questions to rest.

Sleep Deprivation

• A Gallup survey in 2022 shows that one in three Americans say their sleep is fair or poor.¹
• More than 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders.²
• Most healthy adults need at least 7 hours of sleep each night.³

Sleep Disorders

Sleep Apnea

•  A 2022 nationwide Danish study showed sleep apnea significantly increases one’s risk for a motor vehicle accident and its severity.⁴
• 40% to 80% of people with cardiovascular disease also have sleep apnea.⁵
• Approximately 1 billion people suffer from sleep apnea globally.⁶

Narcolepsy

• Narcolepsy type 1 affects 0.0126% of the population.⁷
• Narcolepsy type 2 affects a slightly greater percentage of the population (0.0251%).⁸
• Narcolepsy is often misdiagnosed. Approximately 50% of patients were initially misdiagnosed in a 2022 case report.⁹

Insomnia

• Women have a lifetime risk of insomnia that is two times higher than that of men.¹⁰
• Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder and occurs in 30%of the population.¹¹

Restless Leg Syndrome  

• Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder that causes an urge to move the limbs, which typically feels like a throbbing or crawling sensation. RLS symptoms typically occur in the evening upon resting.¹²
• Up to 10% of US adults suffer from restless leg syndrome (RLS).¹³

Parasomnia  

• 60% to 65% of people sleep talk at some point in their lives.¹⁴
• 10% of people have had a sleep terror in their lifetime.¹⁵
• Sleep paralysis affects 8% of the general population.¹⁶

Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders

• 28-52% of shift workers have shift work disorder. They experience symptoms of insomnia and excessive sleepiness.¹⁷
• Delayed sleep-phase disorder, which causes people to go to bed and wake up later than is considered normal, affects as many as 16% of the adolescents.¹⁸
• Advanced sleep phase disorder (ASPD), which causes people to go to sleep and wake up earlier than normal,  affects around 0.25% to 7% of the population.¹⁹
• Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder, which boils down to an out-of-sync internal body clock that leads to sleep and wake-up times that vary widely, affects an estimated 30% of those visually impaired.²⁰

Sleep and Physical Health

• A lack of good quality sleep can contribute to the development of chronic disease, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.²¹
• According to a meta-analysis of 14 studies, insomnia can increase the risk of hypertension by up to 21%.²²
• Insomnia with short sleep duration is associated with a 63% greater risk of type 2 diabetes.²³
• Short sleep duration is associated with a 41% increased risk of obesity.²⁴

Sleep and Mental Health

• According to a 2021 study, improvements in sleep result in improvements to overall mental health, as well as depression, anxiety, rumination (continuous worrying), and stress.²⁵
• In an analysis of over 273,000 US adults, people that got an average of less than 6 hours of sleep per night were 2.5 times more likely to experience poor mental health.²⁶
• A 2020 study found that women who had trouble sleeping in the previous two weeks were 4 times more likely to have depression than those without sleep difficulties.²⁷
• People with anxiety were five times more likely to experience short sleep duration in a study conducted in Greece.²⁸
• Over 50% of people with schizophrenia have problems sleeping.²⁹
• Up to 75% of children and young people with neurological, emotional, behavioral, and intellectual disorders experience insomnia.³⁰

Sleep Hygiene

• One third of people occasionally or consistently sleep in a different room from their partner — this practice is coined “sleep divorce.”³¹
• A study published in 2024 found that coffee (containing 107 mg of caffeine per 250ml) should be avoided within the 8.8 hours prior to bedtime to prevent impacts on sleep duration.³²
• Research has shown that artificial light exposure at night increases the time it takes to fall asleep, inhibits melatonin secretion, and can cause disruptions in circadian rhythms.³³
• According to recent research, the most effective temperature for older adults to sleep in is between 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit.³⁴

Life Stages

College and Sleep

• 60% of college students have poor sleep quality but still get about 7 hours on average.³⁵
• College student sleep deprivation is associated with a lower grade point average and graduation rate.³⁶

Seniors and Sleep

• 30-48% of older adults have insomnia symptoms.³⁷
• 50% of older adults complain about sleep problems.³⁸
• The percentage of people who take sleep medications increases with age. 5.6% of adults aged 18-44 take sleep medications, compared to 11.9% of people aged 65+.³⁹
• 1 in 3 older adults regularly takes some sort of medication at night to fall asleep.⁴⁰

Teenagers and Sleep

• According to the CDC, 77.9% of high school students get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep for their age group.⁴¹
• Less than half of female teenagers (40.8%) regularly wake up feeling well-rested, compared to 59.7% or male teenagers.⁴²
• 50.4% of female teenagers have difficulty getting out of bed for most or all days, a significantly greater percentage than male teenagers (32.4%).⁴³
• 55.0% of female teenagers complain of being tired at least most of their days, just over double the rate for male teenagers (24.1%).⁴⁴

Pregnancy and Sleep

• A 2021 meta-analysis of 10 articles with over 8,000 participants combined found that insomnia was prevalent in 42.4% of those in their third trimester.⁴⁵ 
• A 2020 Polish study of over 7,000 respondents found that 77.09% of pregnant women reported sleep problems, with nocturnal awakenings being the most common sleep disturbance (52.77%).⁴⁶

Children and Sleep

• A 2022 study found that getting less than 9 hours of sleep impacts neurocognitive development in early adolescents.⁴⁷
• 34.4% of children do not sleep the recommended amount for their age group.⁴⁸
• 4.9% of children rarely or never follow a consistent bedtime.⁴⁹

Sleep Inequality

• Women are slightly more likely to take sleep medication than men. 10.2% of women aged 65+ take sleep medications, while a slightly lesser percentage (6.6%)  of men do so.⁵⁰
• 34% of people with incomes below the federal poverty threshold get less than 6 hours of sleep per night.⁵¹
• Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to experience short sleep duration, irregular sleep schedules, and other sleep-related problems.⁵² 

Sleep Industry

Sleep Supplements and Aids

• 8.4% of adults use sleep medications most days or every day.⁵³
• The percentage of US adults that have used melatonin increased by five times between 1999 and 2018.⁵⁴
• The sleep aid market was valued at $89.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to be worth $125.3 billion by 2027.⁵⁵

Mattresses

• The mattress industry is projected to grow from 52.45 billion US dollars (2023) to 78.34 billion dollars in 2030.⁵⁶
• Half of consumers say that sustainability is an important factor in their mattress buying decision, according to a survey by the Better Sleep Council.⁵⁷

Sleep Tech

• The sleep tech industry was valued at $16.02 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.6% between 2024 and 2033.⁵⁸ 
• North America is expected to account for 54% of the sleep tracking device market share by 2024.⁵⁹

The Last Word From Sleepopolis

Everyone has their own personal relationship with sleep, but that doesn’t mean you’re alone in your sleep struggles. If you’ve had it with restless nights or suspect there’s something out of the ordinary keeping you from getting a good night’s sleep, consider having a conversation with your healthcare provider to get on a path to better sleep.