South Koreans are sleeping less, spending more time on screen

A woman falls asleep while holding her mobile phone. (123rf)

South Koreans are getting slightly less sleep and spending more of their free time in front of screens, according to new data released Monday.

The 2024 report from Statistics Korea found that the average daily sleep time was 8 hours and 4 minutes, down 8 minutes from 2019.

It marks the first decline in average sleep since the country began tracking how people spend their time in 1999. Back then, South Koreans slept an average of 7 hours and 47 minutes a night. That figure gradually rose, peaking at 8 hours and 12 minutes in 2019.

The latest data reveals clear differences by age group.

Teenagers got the most sleep, averaging 8 hours and 37 minutes per night, while people in their 50s slept the least, at just 7 hours and 40 minutes.

When it comes to how people spend their free time, media consumption, which includes watching TV, streaming videos, reading and browsing the internet, accounted for the largest share.

On average, South Koreans had 5 hours and 8 minutes of free time per day, with 2 hours and 43 minutes spent on media.

Notably, the biggest increase was in the use of digital devices. Time spent on smartphones, tablets, and computers during free time nearly doubled from 36 minutes per day in 2019 to 1 hour and 8 minutes in 2024.