South Africans are the earliest risers in the world

New data published by sleep tracking app, Sleep Cycle, shows that South Africans clock fewer hours sleeping than any other nation in the world.

The data is based on 941,329 men and women who shared their sleeping patterns voluntarily and anonymously through the app over the past year.

The app tracks sleep time and sleep quality, which is determined by tracking movements in bed, using a smartphone’s accelerometer to identify sleep phases.

South Africa’s average wake-up time is 06h24, the earliest out of all countries where Sleep Cycle is used – while our bed time is also in the top 20 latest, placing 16th at 00h20.

This means, on average, South Africans enjoy just over six hours of sleep a night – the lowest average sleep time recorded in Sleep Cycle’s data.

Sleep Cycle night owls

Top 15 Night Owls

Top 15 Early Risers

Looking at specific days of the week, Sleep Cycle found that South Africans were the most eager to get going on Mondays, waking up the earliest out of everyone at 06h09 – 15 minutes earlier than the country’s weekly average.

Switzerland has the biggest change in waking on Mondays, rising 24 minutes earlier than its weekly average time. Germany is a close second with 23 minutes earlier rise.

Wednesdays are when South Africa – and the world – gets the best sleep.

58% of countries surveyed experienced the best sleep quality on Wednesdays, with China recording the highest sleep quality in the world that night.

Saturday is the world’s biggest sleep day, with nearly 90% of countries sleeping more and waking up later on Saturdays compared to any other day of the week.

Switzerland gains the most extra sleep (41 extra minutes) on Saturdays, with average sleep time recorded at 7 hours and 49 minutes for that day.

Finland is a close second, clocking 39 extra minutes of shuteye on Saturday nights, but tops the chart for the most sleep, clocking in 8 hours and 2 minutes.

Sunday mornings are the happiest mornings, with most countries waking up in in the best mood of the week. However, on Sunday nights, the majority of the world ends up spending the least amount of time in bed.

Best wake-up mood

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