How many hours a person sleeps depends not only on their age, but also on who they live with. This is shown by data from the Federal Statistical Office. On average, however, all Germans sleep longer than they did ten years ago.
Couples with children in the house get less sleep: they slept an average of eight hours and 15 minutes – 19 minutes less than couples without children. This is shown by data from the Federal Statistical Office, which was presented on the occasion of National Sleep Day on June 21st.
Single parents also sleep less on average, with eight hours and 22 minutes, than people living alone without children, who sleep an average of eight hours and 32 minutes per night. However, the difference is smaller here, at ten minutes.
Sleep duration increases
On average, German citizens sleep eight hours and 37 minutes per night. This applies to people over the age of ten across all age and population groups. In the last survey ten years ago, the figure was eight hours and 29 minutes per night.
Children and young people under 18 sleep the longest: they sleep an average of nine hours and 42 minutes per night. 18- to 29-year-olds sleep around an hour less, namely eight hours and 47 minutes per day. Generally, the average length of sleep decreases with age, but increases again after retirement age. People aged 65 and over slept almost as much as people aged between 18 and 29, namely eight hours and 46 minutes per night. The age groups 30 to 44 and 45 to 64 slept almost half an hour less, at eight hours and 20 minutes.
More sleep on the weekend
On average, however, sleep duration has increased in all age groups over the past ten years, according to the Federal Office. The statisticians were unable to quantify the extent to which the corona pandemic has influenced sleep duration on the basis of the survey.
The survey also includes sleep times on sick days, holidays and weekends. On weekends and holidays, people aged ten and over slept an average of nine hours and 15 minutes, almost an hour more than on weekdays.
The statistics agency collects the data approximately every ten years. The current data is from 2022. Participants voluntarily document their activities during the day and their sleeping times on three specified days, two of which are weekdays and one day at the weekend. In addition to nighttime sleep, afternoon naps are also recorded, for example. The time someone spends in bed before and after sleeping is also recorded, unless they are reading or doing anything else.