Sleep accounts for about one-third of our lives. It plays a crucial role throughout our lives in terms of growth, brain maturation, and the development of our intellectual and cognitive abilities. Getting a good night’s sleep is therefore important for our health. However, our sleep is often disrupted by poor lifestyle habits, work demands, health issues, and more. Poor sleep increases the risk of being overweight or obese, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, and can affect our mood and stress regulation… The challenge for Santé publique France is to assess the quality of sleep among the French population over time and promote initiatives to improve sleep.

Population surveys

Santé publique France Barometers

The Santé publique France barometers are general population surveys conducted since 1992 to measure health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. These surveys periodically include questions about sleep, enabling the development of indicators such as sleep duration, sleep debt, and chronic insomnia. More than 30,000 people aged 18 to 79, residing in France (including the French overseas departments and regions, excluding Mayotte), were surveyed in 2024. This latest edition notably made it possible to measure participants’ total sleep time (including naps) and to estimate the proportion of people experiencing insomnia (reporting difficulty falling asleep or frequent and prolonged nighttime awakenings).

• View the results of the 2024 Santé publique France survey

The CoviPrev Survey

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Santé publique France launched the CoviPrev survey in March 2020 to track changes in behaviors (prevention measures, lockdown, alcohol and tobacco use, diet, and physical activity) and mental health (well-being, symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders) among the general population (ages 18 and older). Through September 2023, 37 waves of quantitative surveys were conducted on independent samples of 2,000 people using self-administered online questionnaires via an Access Panel. A question regarding sleep problems experienced over the past 8 days was asked consistently in each survey wave.

• View the results of the survey waves

The EnCLASS Survey

The National Survey of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools on Health and Substances (EnCLASS) combines two international surveys conducted in schools every four years: HBSC, conducted in France since 1994, and ESPAD since 1999. The survey’s target population consists of secondary school students, from 6th grade through 12th grade, enrolled in schools under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Education (public or private schools under contract).

• View the latest survey data

The health promotion and prevention survey to identify barriers to good sleep and design public health interventions to promote restorative sleep

In 2024, the Behavioral Insights Team, under the leadership of Santé publique France and in collaboration with Verian (qualitative study) and BVA (quantitative study), conducted an exploratory study to analyze the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of French adults aged 18 and older regarding their sleep. This study aimed to:

• analyze the factors related to practices that promote or disrupt quality sleep,

• explore perceptions, barriers, and motivations,

• measure sleep-related behaviors and practices.

A diverse sample was surveyed, with particular attention paid to women, new parents, shift workers, and people in financial precariousness. The objective was to assess:

• the participants’ perceived sleep quality,

• the impact of living environments on their sleep habits,

• perceptions of practices that promote sleep.

Sleep Promotion Initiatives

As part of the 2025-2026 interministerial roadmap for quality sleep, Santé publique France plays a central role in Priority Area 1: "informing and promoting sleep as a determinant of overall health." This includes raising awareness of recommended sleep durations for each age group and expanding sleep-related content on the manger-bouger.fr website. These actions build on existing initiatives, such as the creation of educational tools (videos) and the provision of public information on its websites.

Learn more:

• The website 1000-premiers-jours.fr provides information on infant sleep and its development, the optimal conditions for promoting it, and its essential role in young children’s development and health.

• The video “Sleeping Well Can Improve Your Mental Health” addresses sleep in 11- to 17-year-olds (excerpt from the educational video series titled “Le Fil Good”).

• The website santementale-info-service.fr explores the links between sleep and mental health and provides information on behaviors to adopt to improve sleep.

• The website pourbienvieillir.fr, created in partnership with pension funds, answers questions from people over 55, emphasizing, among other things, the importance of lifestyle habits for achieving quality sleep.

Each health determinant affects sleep and vice versa, at every stage of life. Santé publique France’s digital platforms for health prevention and promotion highlight this cause-and-effect relationship with determinants such as diet, physical activity, tobacco, alcohol, and mental health. By encouraging the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits, Santé publique France helps raise awareness of simple rules for good sleep hygiene.