Sleep deprivation 'costs UK £40bn a year'

Sleep-deprived workers are costing the UK economy £40bn a year and face a higher risk of death, says a new study.

According to a BBC online article, this calculation is based on tired employees being less productive or absent from work altogether.

Research firm Rand Europe, which used data from 62,000 people, said the loss equated to 1.86% of economic growth.

The biggest impact was on health, with those sleeping less than six hours a night 13% more likely to die than those sleeping between seven and nine hours. The study evaluated the economic cost of insufficient sleep in the UK, US, Canada, Germany and Japan, but while the impact of tired workers in the UK may sound bad, it still ranked better than both the US and Japan which lost the most working days due to lack of sleep.

The full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38151180