Fortune Well February 14, 2025
Lifestyle
It’s probably no surprise that Americans are sleep-deprived. But it may be worse than you thought, according to Ikea’s new global sleep study, conducted online with Globescan, which found that the U.S. has just about the worst sleep quality in the world—second only to Norway (with those in mainland China getting the best sleep).
That’s based on sleep scores calculated through answers about the sleep desires and realities of over 55,000 people across 57 global markets, from Egypt and Turkey to Colombia, Italy, Portugal, Qatar, and Bulgaria.
But globally, the report found, there is a shared desire for more rest. “On average, people miss out on 1 hour and 20 minutes of sleep each night, equating to over 20 full days of lost rest annually,” it notes. “While most individuals sleep for 6 hours and 40 minutes, they aspire to reach nearly 8 hours.”
Sound familiar? Here’s what you might be doing wrong.
The report reveals an “alarming” dependence on sleep medication, with one in five (19%) of people globally relying on drugs to help them sleep, and one in 20 (5%) doing so daily.
That’s similar to a 2023 report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found (in 2020) that 6.3% of adults had taken sleep medication daily within the last 30 days for their insomnia, and that 2.1% took medication most days and 10% did so on some days.
So what’s wrong with getting a little help drifting off?
For one thing, the majority of prescription sleep medications can lead to dependence, according to the Mayo Clinic. Most can bring a slew of possible side effects, too, including dizziness, headache, nausea, diarrhea, prolonged drowsiness the next day, daytime memory problems, and changes in thinking and behavior, from hallucinations to suicidal thoughts.
Screens, the new report found, are “deeply ingrained” in bedtime routines: Three-quarters (72%) of respondents use their phones in the bedroom—a percentage that soars to 86% among the 18–24 age group (which also happens to be the group most likely to worry about how much sleep they get).
And it’s not just smartphones, with 24% using laptops in bed and 39% watching TV before turning in for the night.
Similarly, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) found that 58% of poll respondents were looking at phone screens within an hour of bedtime.
The sleep detriments of bedtime screen use are well-known:
The Ikea report lists a range of suggestions for how to boost your sleep quality, echoing what many sleep experts have suggested.
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