Apr 1995๐ Backgroundtap to expand
AIIMS opens India's first sleep lab
AIIMS Delhi sets up the country's first dedicated polysomnography lab, beginning systematic clinical study of sleep disorders in India.
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India sleeps the least: 6.1 hours, productivity collapse, and a growing mental health toll
India averages 6.1 hours of sleep a night, the lowest globally. Sleep deprivation costs India around 7.5 lakh crore rupees in lost productivity each year and drives a silent epidemic of.
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India's sleep crisis at a glance
India sleeps less than any major country. The 2024 ResMed Global Sleep Survey put the Indian adult average at 6.1 hours per night, well below the 7 hours recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. A 2023 LocalCircles online poll found that 61 percent of urban Indians report fewer than 6 hours of sleep on most weeknights. AIIMS sleep clinics estimate that close to 10 crore Indians have undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. The hidden cost is enormous. A RAND Europe model has placed India's annual GDP loss from sleep deprivation at around 1.4 percent, or about 7.5 lakh crore rupees. The consequences show up in metabolic syndrome, hypertension, depression and road traffic crashes. Sleep is no longer an individual hygiene issue. It is a national health and productivity problem that grows with longer commutes, late-night phones, two-screen evenings and noisy crowded homes.
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Why Indians sleep so badly now
India's sleep problem is the stacking of urban life, technology and inequality. Cities expanded outwards but workplaces did not. Average Mumbai and Bengaluru commutes are above 90 minutes a day, often eating directly into bedtime. Night shift work has exploded with global IT outsourcing, gig delivery and 24-hour hospitals, forcing millions to live against the body's circadian clock. Screen time before bed is universal across class and age. The 2024 NIMHANS digital wellbeing survey showed Indian adults spending over 7 hours a day on phones and televisions, with 38 percent using screens within thirty minutes of trying to sleep. Sleep environments are difficult too. Crowded multi-generational housing, light pollution, traffic noise and unreliable air conditioning during heatwaves make uninterrupted sleep hard. Among children, school and tuition timings, plus parental stress, cut deep into the recommended nine to eleven hours. Even when people sleep, untreated apnea, anaemia and chronic stress mean the sleep is fragmented and shallow.
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