It may come as a surprise to many but sleep on a nationwide level – particularly the quality of sleep – has been studied for years for many reasons, one being to quantify the economic costs of insufficient sleep on a nation. Indeed, studies in the past have shown that sleep deprivation can be associated with a higher mortality risk, productivity losses at work, and loss of billions of dollars from a nation’s GDP.
Given how important good sleep is to a country, a new study around the sleep habits of nations has revealed that Saudi Arabia is amongst the top countries across the globe whose citizens sleep soundly at night. According to a recent report by Khaleej Times, India came astonishingly on top among the most restful populations where people get the best good night's sleep, followed by Saudi Arabia and China. The survey was conducted online by global market research firm KJT Group on behalf of Philips, involving 11,006 adults ages 18 and older in 12 countries.
The news site reported that the study, entitled "Philips Global Sleep Survey 2019,” found that roughly 62 per cent of adults worldwide feel that they don't sleep well when they go to bed, with the worst nations on the chart being South Korea, followed by Japan. The article also revealed that Canada (63 per cent) and Singapore (61 per cent) are the two countries with the highest reports of worry/stress impacting sleep.
Saudi Arabia has over the last few years been working diligently to improve the lifestyle and standard of living of its citizens. Indeed, when Vision 2030 was launched, a strategy in essence to steer the Kingdom away from oil dependency and allow for the greater diversification of its economy, Saudi Arabia also designed a number of programs to help reach its key Vision 2030 goals.
A major one mentioned often in news reports is the Quality of Life Vision Realization Program, which aims to improve the lifestyle of Saudis by developing an ecosystem to support and create new options that boost citizens’ and residents’ participation in cultural, environment, and sports activities, ultimately raising the status of Saudi Arabian cities so that they rank among the best cities in the world.
