SEOUL, July 28 (Xinhua) -- South Koreans' sleeping time recorded the first fall in 2024 amid the higher number of people who had difficulty falling asleep, statistical office data showed Monday.
The daily average sleeping time for people aged 10 and higher amounted to 8 hours and 4 minutes in 2024, down from 8 hours and 12 minutes in 2019, according to Statistics Korea.
It marked the first slide since relevant data began to be compiled every five years in 1999.
The percentage of people who had difficulty falling asleep reached 11.9 percent of the total in 2024. The percentage posted the highest among those aged 60 and older at 19.6 percent, followed by those in their 50s and 40s with 11.1 percent and 8.2 percent each.
It was based on a survey of about 25,000 members of 12,750 sample households.
The daily average working hours on weekdays for wage earners above the age of 15 totaled 6 hours and 8 minutes in 2024, down from 6 hours and 23 minutes in 2019.
On weekdays, male employees worked an average of 6 hours and 36 minutes per day in 2024, higher than 5 hours and 32 minutes for their female counterparts.
In 2018, the Asian country introduced the 52-hour workweek system, which limits the regular workweek to 40 hours with up to 12 hours of overtime. ■