● Brits are sleeping less year on year, with only 7 hours 16 minutes of sleep on average in 2025, a Withings study finds.

● Men over the age of fifty are most likely to suffer from sleep apnoea in the UK

Brits are suffering from sleep conditions which could affect their long-term health, new research from Withings today reveals. One in five Brits (22%) suffer from mild sleep apnoea – a condition which disrupts breathing during sleep – with almost a quarter of the year (23%) spent suffering from signs of mild sleep apnoea in 2025.

Sleep apnoea is usually categorised by severity: mild, moderate, or severe based on the average number of breathing interruptions per hour. Withings analysed the prevalence of signs of mild sleep apnoea apparent in users in the UK across over 2 million nights (2,138,878), revealing that this silent killer is a lot more common than many people realise.

Poor lifestyle choices, stress and long working hours in the UK could all be contributing factors when it comes to sleep issues. Compared to the rest of Europe, Brits ranked higher than Germany and France when comparing the number of mild sleep apnoea episodes per person in 2025, with 18% of users with signs of mild sleep apnoea in France and 17% of users with signs of mild sleep apnoea in Germany (versus 22% of Brits in the UK).

Sleep quality is gradually getting worse on a national level, with Brits’ average sleep score rated at 72 in 2025 – down from a score of 75 in 2024. This score, calculated by Withings’ algorithm, is based on a combined analysis of nighttime heart rate, total sleep duration, deep, light, and REM sleep phases, nighttime interruptions, breathing difficulties, time to fall asleep, and time to wake up. Brits are also getting less sleep year on year, with an average of 7 hours 24 minutes in 2024 versus only 7 hours 16 minutes in 2025.

Beyond sleep duration, the 2025 data reveals marked seasonal variations with Brits sleeping the least on 1st July 2025 and 5th July 2024. They also sleep the longest on average on 5th January 2025 and 27th October 2024, indicating that the seasons play an important role in the amount of sleep British people get at different points throughout the year.

Age heavily influences sleep apnoea prevalence, with the average British sufferer of mild sleep apnoea aged 57, close to the global average of 56. The mean age of all users sampled in the UK is 51, suggesting that sleep disturbances are more prevalent once people hit their fifties.

Not only that, but men in the UK are most likely to suffer from sleep apnoea, with 26% experiencing the medical condition versus only 14% of women. The exact causes for this are unknown, but it can be explained by differences in body weight, upper airway anatomy, breathing control, hormones and ageing, which could all play a role.[1]

The link between Mild Sleep Apnoea and Cardiovascular Risk

Poor sleep is no longer just a lifestyle complaint; it is a global health emergency. On average, 1 billion people[2] worldwide are affected by sleep apnoea. It remains one of the most dangerous and underdiagnosed conditions, resulting in a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular health problems:

● 1.6x increased risk of Type 2 diabetes
● 3x higher risk of developing hypertension
● 4x higher risk of developing AFib

Whilst the Withings research reveals that one in five Brits suffer from signs of ‘mild’ sleep apnoea, it shouldn’t be ignored, as new independent scientific research by Flinders University in collaboration with Withings, conducted over four years with 30,000 participants across 20 countries using Withings Sleep Analyzer, reveals that what matters is not only how severe the sleep apnoea is, but also how much the breathing pauses vary from night to night. People with mild sleep apnoea who show high night-to-night variability display signs of arterial stiffness comparable to those seen in people with severe sleep apnoea – indicating that they could be at risk of accelerated cardiovascular ageing.

W: Withings

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