"Focus on the 'Sleep Economy'... 300 Million People with Sleep Disorders in China"

Trade Association Shanghai Branch, Report on the Current Status and Implications of the Sleep Economy

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Recently, it has been reported that approximately 300 million people in China suffer from sleep disorders due to excessive stress, prompting calls for Korean companies to pay attention to the 'sleep economy' market.

According to the report "Current Status and Implications of China's Sleep Economy" released on the 28th by the Shanghai branch of the Korea International Trade Association, the insomnia prevalence rate in China in 2019 was 38.2%, about 10 percentage points higher than the global average insomnia rate of 27%. The market related to sleep products and services in China also grew at an average annual rate of 11.2% from 2015 to 2019, and is expected to reach approximately 457.2 billion yuan by 2022.

By age group, those born in the 1990s and 2000s showed higher insomnia rates, with emotional factors, life stress, and work stress cited as the main causes of sleep disorders.

In particular, amid fierce competition in China's IT industry, major companies such as Alibaba, Jingdong, Huawei, and Xiaomi have introduced the '996 work system' (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week), leading to a significant increase in young people complaining of excessive stress and insomnia.

(Unit: 100 million yuan)
(Source: 2020 China Sleep Economy Industry Report, Wuxie)

The number of sleep product brands is also rapidly increasing. Between 2017 and 2019, the number of sleep product brands grew at an average annual rate of 32%, and the number of stores selling sleep products on e-commerce platforms increased by an average annual rate of 65%.

Accordingly, Jingdong has been holding promotional events for sleep products every year since 2015 on World Sleep Day (the second Friday of March), and this year, sales of bedroom mood lights and smart blackout curtains increased by 130% and 170%, respectively, compared to the previous year. On Alibaba Group's Tmall, sleep product sales on the discount event day held on June 18, 2019, increased by 530% compared to the previous year, and on November 11, during the Singles' Day event, sales rose by 174%.

Shim Jun-seok, head of the Korea International Trade Association's Shanghai branch, said, "The lazy consumption habits of young people who find everything bothersome and the activation of non-face-to-face consumption due to COVID-19 have concentrated the distribution and sales of sleep products online," adding, "Various smart sleep devices and sleep apps targeting young people will lead the future sleep aid market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.