By the Numbers - Apr. 24, 2017
$411 billion
The economic cost of sleep deprivation in the United States, according to a recent research brief from the RAND Corporation -- Why sleep matters: The economic costs of insufficient sleep. This study "quantifies the economic and social costs of insufficient sleep" in the U.S and four other OECD countries -- the UK, Canada, Germany and Japan.
The economic losses range from 2.92 per cent of a country’s GDP per year in the case of Japan, to 1.35 per cent in Canada. The UK loses up to $50bn per year, which equates to 1.56 per cent of its GDP. These figures could drastically be reduced by making small changes to how long individuals sleep. For example, if the working-age population went from 6 hours of sleep or less per night to between 6 and 7 hours, each nation could save over half of the economic losses caused by sleep, with the United States saving up to $226.4bn.
$411 billion
The economic cost of sleep deprivation in the United States, according to a recent research brief from the RAND Corporation -- Why sleep matters: The economic costs of insufficient sleep. This study "quantifies the economic and social costs of insufficient sleep" in the U.S and four other OECD countries -- the UK, Canada, Germany and Japan.
The economic losses range from 2.92 per cent of a country’s GDP per year in the case of Japan, to 1.35 per cent in Canada. The UK loses up to $50bn per year, which equates to 1.56 per cent of its GDP. These figures could drastically be reduced by making small changes to how long individuals sleep. For example, if the working-age population went from 6 hours of sleep or less per night to between 6 and 7 hours, each nation could save over half of the economic losses caused by sleep, with the United States saving up to $226.4bn.