Canadian economy costs billions of dollars due to lack of sleep

The study calculates the economic losses due to lack of sleep among workers in five different countries, including the U.S, the U.K., Canada, Germany and Japan.

The non-profit research group RAND Europe also points out that lack of sleep is one of the leading cause of risk of death which lowers employees’ efficiency and a hurdle in country’s economic growth.

For instance, a person with an average sleep of less than six hours a night, the report says has a 13 percent higher risk of death compared to a person between seven and nine hours of sleep, while those sleeping between six and seven hours a day are reported to have a 7 percent higher risk of death.

The study described the healthy daily sleep range to be between seven and nine hours per night.

Research points out that Canada’s sleep pattern was best among the five countries surveyed as it lost only 80,000 working days a year due to lack of sleep.

U.S. with an estimated 600,000 working days lost 1.2 million working days due to sleep deprivation resulting in the largest financial losses of up to $4111 billion (U.S.), which is 2.28 per cent of its GDP.

Reduction in productivity in the workplace is a result of absenteeism combined with “presenteeism” as referred in the report, in which employees’ work in half-awake state resulting from lack of sleep.

“Our study shows that the effects from a lack of sleep are massive,” says Marco Hafner, a research leader at U.K.-based RAND Europe -- part of the non-profit RAND Corporation -- and the report’s main author.

“Sleep deprivation not only influences an individual’s health and well-being but has a significant impact on a nation’s economy, with lower productivity levels and a higher mortality risk among workers,” he said in a release early Wednesday.

U.S.’s poor results were closely followed by Japan, whose loss of 600,000 working days due to lack of sleep cost its economy $138 billion (U.S.), representing 2.92 percent of its GDP.

Germany’s reported loss of 200,000 working days from sleep deprivation resulted up to $60 billion (U.S.) as its economic cost, amounting to 1.56 percent of its GDP.

U.K’s loss of over 200,000 working days due to sleep issues resulted in its economic loss of an estimated $50 billion (U.S.), which is 1.86 percent of its GDP,.

“Improving individual sleep habits and duration has huge implications, with our research showing that simple changes can make a big difference,” says Hafner.

“For example, if those who sleep under six hours a night increase their sleep to between six and seven hours a night, this could add $12 billion (U.S.) to the Canadian economy,” he notes.

The group has used data on sleep duration from five different countries and large employer-employee databases to compute projected conclusions from a lack of sleep among employees.

The report recommends individuals to follow regular sleep patterns, get some physical exercise during the day and restrict the use of electronic items before bedtime.

Employers are also expected to formally recognize the importance of sleep and promoting it by building brighter workspaces and having specific areas for naps during daytime.

The employers should tackle the issues of psychosocial risks in the workplace and discourage the prolonged use of electronic devices after working hours.

Public authorities should encourage employers to pay attention to sleep issues and think of introducing later school starting times.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)

(Image: sleep deprivation Wikipedia)