Koreans sleep less than their peers in other countries, a study shows.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore and Finnish health technology company Oura Health Oy released a study of sleep habits of people across 35 countries, which shows Koreans sleep an average of 6.3 hours a day, the second shortest.
Only Japanese people slept even less with 6.1 hours.
The Economist weekly commented, "Asians sleep later, shorter and less well."
The study used data collected from 220,000 users of smartwatches in 35 countries in 2021 and found that Asian people sleep an average of 6 hours and 30 minutes, about 30 minutes less than those in the other countries.
Sleep quality is also poor. Asians tend to go to bed later and spend more time tossing and turning before falling asleep.
People in Australia, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand and the Netherlands sleep the longest with an average of seven hours a night.
Hong Kong, Singapore and India round out the five countries with the shortest sleeping hours.
Researchers said social factors such as childcare, work and cultural practices have a great effect on sleep. For example, Korean employees work 36.5 hours per week, while the Dutch work just 27 hours.
