This Just In: Australians and Kiwis are Officially the World's Longest Sleepers and Earliest Risers
Australians and New Zealanders are sleeping well and rising early — but this new report reveals we're still missing something.
Tourists in Australia and New Zealand are often overwhelmed by culture shock, but one of the most surprising things about how we operate in ANZ is how early everyone seems to get up. It's quantifiable, as proven by ŌURA, which has analysed the data from its smart ring users around the world and compiled it into the ANZ: State of Sleep Report 2026.
First things first, kudos to Australians and New Zealanders for your record sleep durations. New Zealand ranks first in the world for average sleep length, falling just shy of the elusive recommended eight hours at seven hours and 11 minutes. Australians follow closely at seven hours and nine minutes.
Oxime via iStock
Curious then that we're also the world's earliest risers, with both nations on average getting out of bed at 7am. Our circadian rhythms are seemingly geared for early mornings, be it for run clubs, coffee culture, catching the sunrise or trying to beat the commuter traffic. To be specific, a record 43 percent of Australians and 39 percent of New Zealanders fall into early morning or morning chronotypes — chronotype being your genetic inclination to sleep and wake at certain times in the 24-hour period. If you're a night owl, you're in the minority, since just five percent and four percent of Aussies and Kiwis are in evening chronotypes.
Despite the record durations and early starts, Australians are suffering as the day goes on. The average Australian experiences 107 minutes of stress every day, and a mere 55 minutes of recovery to balance it out. It's not so bad across the ditch, though. Kiwis are averaging 101 minutes of stress, but also struggling to make up for it with rest.
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"What we're seeing in Australia and New Zealand is a reminder that sleep duration alone doesn't tell the full story," said Doug Sweeny, CMO at ŌURA. "Recovery is a 24-hour equation: if stress isn't managed during the day, the body carries that load into the night. The encouraging thing is that many of our members here are already working with their bodies - waking early, going to bed early, and aligning their daily rhythms with their biology, something they can do confidently with ŌURA."
This data comes courtesy of ŌURA. ŌURA Ring 4 and ŌURA Ring 4 Ceramic are available to buy in Australia and New Zealand through the ŌURA website.
Lead image: Destination NSW
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