What percentage of people snore? Snoring by the numbers
About 44% of middle-aged men and 28% of middle-aged women snore habitually, according to the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, the study most prevalence figures trace back to (Young et al. 1993). Worldwide, an estimated 936 million adults aged 30 to 69 have obstructive sleep apnea and 425 million have a moderate or severe form (Benjafield et al. 2019). This page collects the snoring numbers that hold up to a source check, in one place, with the study each one comes from. It is updated quarterly; the next update adds anonymous, aggregated figures from Snorly recordings.
- 44% of men and 28% of women aged 30 to 60 snore habitually; 24% of men and 9% of women have at least 5 breathing events per hour of sleep (Young et al. 1993, 602 adults, polysomnography).
- 936 million adults worldwide aged 30 to 69 have obstructive sleep apnea, 425 million moderate to severe; China, the USA, Brazil and India have the most (Benjafield et al. 2019).
- Snoring intensity averages 46 dB in habitual snorers without apnea and rises to 60 dB in the most severe apnea, measured in 1,643 people (Maimon and Hanly 2010).
- A snorer's bed partner slept 74% of the time in bed and 87% once the snoring was treated, about an hour more sleep a night (Beninati et al. 1999).
- 18% of couples in a 13-country survey of 30,026 people sleep in separate rooms because of snoring or restlessness (ResMed 2025).
How many people snore?
Roughly two in five men and one in four women in middle age, if "snore" means most nights. The Wisconsin cohort asked 602 employed adults aged 30 to 60 and then measured them overnight in a lab: 44% of men and 28% of women reported habitual snoring (Young et al. 1993). Occasional snoring is more common still; almost everyone snores with a cold or after a late drink. Surveys that ask "do you ever snore" produce higher numbers than surveys that ask "most nights", which is why quoted figures range from a quarter to a half of adults.
| Group | Habitual snoring | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Men, 30 to 60 | 44% | Young et al. 1993 |
| Women, 30 to 60 | 28% | Young et al. 1993 |
| Women, third trimester of pregnancy | 23% | Franklin et al. 2000 |
| Children, "always" snores by parent report | 1.5% to 6% | American Academy of Pediatrics 2012 |
How many people have sleep apnea?
Far more than are diagnosed. In the same Wisconsin sample, 24% of men and 9% of women had at least 5 apneas or hypopneas per hour of sleep, and 4% of men and 2% of women met the full definition of the syndrome with daytime sleepiness (Young et al. 1993). Scaled to the world, Benjafield's literature-based estimate put 936 million adults aged 30 to 69 at mild or worse and 425 million at moderate or severe (Benjafield et al. 2019). In the United States the American Academy of Sleep Medicine estimated 29.4 million adults with the condition, about 80% of them undiagnosed (AASM and Frost & Sullivan 2016). In children the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea is 1.2% to 5.7% (American Academy of Pediatrics 2012).
Snoring is the symptom that usually gets people to a sleep test, but it is not the diagnosis. What separates the two on a recording is in snoring vs sleep apnea.
How loud is snoring?
Quiet snoring is a refrigerator hum; severe snoring is a vacuum cleaner. In 1,643 habitual snorers measured during sleep studies, average snoring intensity was 46.3 dB in people without apnea and rose step by step to 60.5 dB in people with more than 50 breathing events an hour; loudness and apnea severity correlated at r = 0.66 (Maimon and Hanly 2010). In an earlier series of 1,139 sleep-lab patients, 12.3% produced snoring above 55 dBA for a tenth of the night or more (Wilson et al. 1999). The loudest snore on record is 111.6 dB, Jenny Chapman, UK, 2009 (Guinness World Records). Real clips at each level are in what snoring sounds like.
| Level | What it compares to | Who snores this loud |
|---|---|---|
| 46 dB | Refrigerator, quiet library | Average snorer without apnea (Maimon and Hanly 2010) |
| 55 dB | Moderate rainfall | Exceeded by 12.3% of sleep-lab patients for 10% of the night (Wilson et al. 1999) |
| 60 dB | Normal conversation | Average in very severe apnea (Maimon and Hanly 2010) |
| 111.6 dB | Rock concert, siren | The record (Guinness) |
What snoring does to the person next to you
It costs them about an hour of sleep. In the Mayo Clinic study, 10 couples were measured on the same night; when the snorer's apnea was treated with CPAP halfway through, the partner's arousals fell from 21 to 12 an hour and their sleep efficiency rose from 74% to 87%, which over an eight-hour night is roughly 62 more minutes asleep (Beninati et al. 1999).
| Percent of time in bed asleep | Snoring untreated | Snoring treated | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner sleep efficiency, % | 74 | 87 | 18% |
The household consequences show up in surveys. More than a third of Americans say they occasionally or consistently sleep in another room to accommodate a partner (American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2023). In ResMed's 2025 survey of 30,026 people across 13 countries, 18% of couples sleep apart because of snoring or restlessness (ResMed 2025). Scripts for the conversation are in how to sleep when your partner snores.
What makes snoring worse, by the numbers
| Factor | Measured effect | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | A 10% weight gain predicted a 32% rise in the apnea-hypopnea index over 4 years; a 10% loss predicted a 26% fall | Peppard et al. 2000, 690 adults |
| Back sleeping | 55.9% of 574 sleep-apnea patients had at least twice as many events on their back as on their side | Oksenberg et al. 1997 |
| Sex | Men snore at higher intensity than women in sleep-lab measurements | Wilson et al. 1999 |
| Apnea severity | Snoring loudness rises from 46 dB with no apnea to 60 dB in very severe apnea | Maimon and Hanly 2010 |
| Pregnancy | 23% of women snore habitually in the last week of pregnancy, against 4% before | Franklin et al. 2000 |
The causes, and how to test which one is yours with a few recorded nights, are in why do I snore.
What works, by the numbers
Every remedy below was measured in a sleep lab rather than rated in a review. Each has an article with the study details and a seven-night way to test it on yourself.
| Remedy | Measured result | Study | Test it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mouth tape (mouth breathers only) | Snoring index down 47%, from 303.8 to 121.1 events per hour, after one week | Lee et al. 2022, 20 patients | Mouth tape |
| Nasal strips (blocked nose only) | Snores per hour from 258 on placebo to 173 on a real strip; loudness unchanged | Pevernagie et al. 2000, 12 patients | Nasal strips |
| Memory foam pillow | Snoring events down 47% per 3-hour session | Stavrou et al. 2022, 12 patients | Anti-snoring pillow |
| Inclined side-sleeping pillow | Breathing events from 17 to under 5 per hour in mild to moderate apnea | Zuberi et al. 2004, 22 patients | Anti-snoring pillow |
| Throat exercises, 3 months | Snore index halved, from 99.5 to 48.2 per hour; control unchanged | Ieto et al. 2015, 39 patients | How to stop snoring |
| 10% weight loss | Apnea-hypopnea index down 26% | Peppard et al. 2000 | How to stop snoring |
What Snorly's own data will add
Nothing on this page comes from Snorly yet, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. From the next quarterly update this section will carry aggregated, anonymous figures from recorded nights: the median snore minutes per night, the share of nights in each loudness band, the hour of the night when snoring peaks, and how nights tagged with a remedy compare with nights without. The numbers will be published with the count of nights behind them and never with anything that identifies a person. Until then, the studies above are the best measurements available.
Hear your own snoring tonightSnorly records only when it hears snoring and plays it back in the morning. Free, no account, no night limit.
Download on the App StoreRelated questions
What percentage of adults snore?
About 44% of men and 28% of women aged 30 to 60 snore habitually (Young et al. 1993). Counting occasional snoring, most adults snore at some point.
Is snoring more common in men or women?
Men, by roughly half again: 44% versus 28% for habitual snoring in the Wisconsin cohort, and men also snore louder in sleep-lab measurements. The gap narrows after menopause; see snoring in women.
How many people have sleep apnea worldwide?
An estimated 936 million adults aged 30 to 69, of whom 425 million have a moderate or severe form (Benjafield et al. 2019). Most are undiagnosed.
At what age does snoring start?
Habitual snoring rises through the 30s and 40s and peaks in the 50s and 60s as airway muscle tone falls and weight rises; the Wisconsin figures are for ages 30 to 60. Children snore too, and 1.5% to 6% do so every night.
Sources
- Young T, Palta M, Dempsey J, Skatrud J, Weber S, Badr S (1993). The Occurrence of Sleep-Disordered Breathing among Middle-Aged Adults. New England Journal of Medicine 328:1230-1235. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199304293281704
- Benjafield AV, Ayas NT, Eastwood PR, et al. (2019). Estimation of the global prevalence and burden of obstructive sleep apnoea: a literature-based analysis. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine 7(8):687-698. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(19)30198-5
- Maimon N, Hanly PJ (2010). Does snoring intensity correlate with the severity of obstructive sleep apnea? Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 6(5):475-478. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2952752/
- Wilson K, Stoohs RA, Mulrooney TF, et al. (1999). The snoring spectrum: acoustic assessment of snoring sound intensity in 1,139 individuals undergoing polysomnography. Chest 115(3):762-770. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.115.3.762
- Beninati W, Harris CD, Herold DL, Shepard JW Jr (1999). The effect of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea on the sleep quality of bed partners. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 74(10):955-958. https://doi.org/10.4065/74.10.955
- Peppard PE, Young T, Palta M, Dempsey J, Skatrud J (2000). Longitudinal Study of Moderate Weight Change and Sleep-Disordered Breathing. JAMA 284(23):3015-3021. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.284.23.3015
- Oksenberg A, Silverberg DS, Arons E, Radwan H (1997). Positional vs Nonpositional Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients. Chest. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.112.3.629
- Franklin KA, Holmgren PA, Jönsson F, et al. (2000). Snoring, Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension, and Growth Retardation of the Fetus. Chest. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.117.1.137
- American Academy of Pediatrics (2012). Diagnosis and Management of Childhood Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome. Pediatrics 130(3):576-584. https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/130/3/576/30284/
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine / Frost & Sullivan (2016). Hidden Health Crisis Costing America Billions. https://aasm.org/resources/pdf/sleep-apnea-economic-crisis.pdf
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2023). Over a third of Americans opt for a "sleep divorce". https://aasm.org/over-a-third-americans-opt-sleep-divorce/
- ResMed (2025). Fifth Annual Global Sleep Survey. https://newsroom.resmed.com/news-releases/news-details/2025/ResMeds-Fifth-Annual-Global-Sleep-Survey-Reveals-a-World-Struggling-with-Poor-Sleep/default.aspx
- Guinness World Records. Loudest snore. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/loudest-snoring
- Lee YC, Lu CT, Cheng WN, Li HY (2022). The Impact of Mouth-Taping in Mouth-Breathers with Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Healthcare (Basel). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9498537/
- Pevernagie D, Hamans E, Van Cauwenberge P, Pauwels R (2000). External nasal dilation reduces snoring in chronic rhinitis patients. European Respiratory Journal 15(6):996-1000. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1399-3003.2000.01504.x
- Stavrou VT, et al. (2022). Memory Foam Pillow as an Intervention in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Preliminary Randomized Study. Frontiers in Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8967243/
- Zuberi NA, Rekab K, Nguyen HV (2004). Sleep apnea avoidance pillow effects on obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and snoring. Sleep and Breathing 8(4):201-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-004-0201-5
- Ieto V, Kayamori F, Montes MI, et al. (2015). Effects of Oropharyngeal Exercises on Snoring: A Randomized Trial. Chest. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.14-2953
Snorly is a snore recorder and tracker, not a medical device. It does not diagnose sleep apnea or any other condition. If you notice pauses in breathing, gasping or daytime sleepiness, talk to a doctor.