A new poll from the National Sleep Foundation looked at sleeping habits from people around the world and found cultural differences seep into their bedtime routine, and Germans and Mexicans are getting the most shut eye during the week.

The 2013 International Bedroom Poll compared sleep times, attitudes, habits and bedtime routines of 1,626 participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan between the ages of 25 and 55 years old. The survey found that Japanese and Americans get 30 to 40 fewer minutes of sleep on workdays than their peers in other countries, averaging 6 hours and 22 minutes and 6 hours and 31 minutes of sleep, respectively. 

Two-thirds of Japanese (66%) say they sleep less than 7 hours on work nights, compared to 53% of Americans, 39% in the United Kingdom, 36% of Germans, 30% of Canadians and 29% of Mexicans. One in five from the United States (21%), Japan (19%) and the United Kingdom (18%) report sleeping less than six hours a night during the work week, about twice the rate of the other countries (11% Mexico, 10% Germany, 7% Canada,), according to the report.

With the high number of Japanese reporting insufficient sleep during weekdays, many participate in the cultural tradition of inemuri, or napping on the job. The accepted tradition typically highlights how exhausted a person is from working so hard. Just over 50 percent of Japanese and Americans reported taking a nap in the past two weeks to make up for their short sleeping patterns at night.

 "It is important to look at cultural differences in sleep, and not always to assume a U.S. focus. Sleep is deeply inter-connected with health and performance, but it is often overlooked by researchers. This poll shows intriguing cultural variations on how we tackle this nightly, biological ritual," said Jan Born, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Tübingen, Germany and a member of the NSF 2013 International Bedroom Poll expert panel.

When the participants were asked what makes a good sleeping environment, 92 per cent of Mexicansand nine out of ten Germans agreed that they feel more relaxed when their bedroom has a "fresh, pleasant scent."

Other key facts from National Sleep Foundation survey include:

  • One quarter of sleepers in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. report rarely or never getting a good night's sleep during the work week, while 11 percent of people in the U.K. say they never get a decent night's rest, twice as many as in any other country.
  • Sixty-two percent of Mexicans and 47 percent of Americans meditate or pray in the hour before going to sleep, while at least two-thirds of all people surveyed watch TV during that time.
  • One-third of people in the U.K. report sleeping naked. That's interesting to note because the world's largest sleepover was held March 8, 2008, in Kent, U.K. (The 1,626 participants wore their pajamas.)