SLEEP CRISIS IN SEA:  Almost 3 in 4 Southeast Asians are not getting a good night’s sleep

While a deep slumber may help prevent memory loss or the onset of Alzheimer’s disease for older adults, it seems that almost 3 in 4 Southeast Asians are experiencing sleep problems.

Milieu Insight, Southeast Asia’s leading consumer research firm, has released a sleep tracker study revealing that 46% in Southeast Asia face sleep problems at least a few times a week, with the highest prevalence observed in the Philippines (56%).

Several sleep problems are more common among Thais, including excessive daytime sleepiness (46%) and increased movement during sleep (40%). Additionally, the study highlights that 59% of individuals in Southeast Asia sleep for less than seven hours.

The most common sleep problems that respondents picked were: “difficulty falling asleep” (49%); “waking up often at night” (39%) and “Irregular sleep and wake cycle” (38%). Vietnam (80%) and the Philippines (79%) had the largest number of respondents with sleep problems.

The popularity of sleep trackers was highest in Vietnam based on number of users (26%), and regionally, 14% of respondents indicated they were using a sleep tracker. Of those currently using sleep tracker apps, 10% and 47% said that these apps have helped to improve their sleep quality to a “great extent” and “some extent” respectively. In Singapore, users seem to observe less effective results, with 2% and 28% sharing similar sentiments.

Overall, the top 3 functions/data that were used to monitor sleep patterns were sleep duration (61%), sleep quality (i.e amount of uninterrupted sleep) (60%) and sleep phases (i.e light or deep sleep phases) (46%).

Personal privacy was not much of a concern as 89% of respondents were either “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” when asked if they were comfortable to share their sleep actvity data with sleep tracker apps. Sentiments among Thailand and Vietnam respondents were largely positive and around 3 in 10 indicated that they were “very comfortable” – Thailand (37%) and Vietnam (32%).

In anticipation of the launch of Pokemon Sleep, respondents were asked about their interest in trying Pokemon Sleep to track their sleep patterns and 72% responded positively (20% very interested; 52% somewhat interested). Interest in Vietnam ranked the highest (82%), followed by Thailand (76%) and the Philippines (76%).

Top 5 words that respondents used to describe what they think about Pokemon Sleep:

1. Interesting (51%)
2. Unique (32%)
3. Useful (32%)
4. Fun (28%)
5. Indifferent (13%)

With its captivating premise, Pokémon Sleep is poised to reshape the landscape of sleep tracking with 7 in 10 respondents in Southeast Asia either very/somewhat interested to try the app. There are promising opportunities for other companies to use gamification to drive behavioural change for users to track their sleep data and we expect to usher in a new era of health-conscious technology.

Milieu Insight is Southeast Asia’s leading consumer research and data analytics company, renowned for its expertise in providing brands and businesses with valuable insights and market research data. Operating in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, Milieu Insight’s industry-transforming solutions were awarded several prestigious awards, including Campaign Asia’s Market Research Agency of the Year (Gold) and Tech MVP 2022. Its one-stop insights platform, Canvas, offers tools for analysing and visualising consumer opinion data across a multitude of lifestyle topics and sectors, powering businesses to make better, more impactful decisions and strategies.

Methodology: Based on Milieu Insight surveys with N=500 respondents each in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, conducted in April 2023.