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'Sleepmaxxing': Why the business of better rest is booming in Korea

Published: 16 Mar. 2026, 11:26

Simmons’ N32 motion bed [SIMMONS]

An office worker surnamed Heo who lives alone in Mapo District, western Seoul, has been paying into a six-month installment savings account since February. The goal is to buy a mattress priced in the 4 million won ($2,700) range.

“Spending weekends in bed, looking at my smartphone, eating and watching TV is my favorite way to relax,” Heo said. “My home is small, and the bed is where I spend the most time comfortably, so I decided to make a big purchase and get a good one.”

Korea’s sleep industry, including beds, mattresses and bedding, is growing rapidly. The market has expanded more than tenfold, from about 480 billion won in 2011 to about 5 trillion won last year, according to data by the Korea Sleep Industry Association released March 12.

Some expect it to exceed 6 trillion won this year as bedroom leisure becomes more common among younger consumers and interest grows in "sleepmaxxing," the practice of optimizing sleep quality.

As one- and two-person households increase, bedrooms are turning into a second living room. In a recent survey of 700 people by interior platform Ohouse, 62.6 percent of respondents answered that they use their beds for purposes other than sleep. The most common uses were using smartphones at 78.4 percent, watching videos at 66.6 percent, resting at 34.4 percent, reading at 21.8 percent and making calls at 14.5 percent.

Hyundai Livart’s hotel-style bedding, Aesthetic [HYUNDAI LIVART]

These lifestyle changes are also affecting actual consumption trends. Sales of motion beds, which allow users to adjust the mattress angle depending on posture, and premium beds are rising. Sales of the N32 motion bed in the second half of last year jumped 83.8 percent from the first half, according to Simmons.

Some of the company’s premium mattress products also saw sales rise about 40 percent on year in 2024 despite price tags above 5 million won.

Hotel-style beds, which add decorative elements around the headboard or sides, accounted for 30 percent of total bedroom furniture sales last year, up from 10 percent in 2022, according to Hyundai Livart. Ace Bed’s analysis of purchases by soon-to-wed and newlywed couples also showed a clear preference for larger beds, with king-size or bigger products accounting for 78.9 percent of total sales.

Lifestyle platform 29CM hosts a bedding pop-up store in Seongsu-dong in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, on March 8. [29CM]

Korea’s notably low level of sleep satisfaction is also cited as a factor behind the market’s growth. In a nationwide survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Philips Korea and research firm Hankook Research ahead of World Sleep Day on Friday, 36.4 percent of respondents chose sleep as the most important factor for managing health, more than the 35.7 percent who chose diet or the 27.8 percent who chose exercise.

However, only 28.8 percent answered that they were satisfied with their sleep. Koreans sleep an average of 5 hours and 25 minutes, far short of the 7 to 9 hours recommended by the World Health Organization.

As learning how to sleep well becomes more important, products aimed at a better night’s sleep are also gaining popularity. Transaction value for sleep-related products such as bedding, loungewear and sleep aids from the beginning of this year through March 9 surged 2,996 percent from a year earlier, according to online platform ZigZag.

Over the same period, transaction value for products such as sleep eye masks and sleep pillows on Ably rose 65 percent.

Hyundai Department Store's Pangyo branch in Gyeonggi is holding an event through March 22 where customers can try out sleep tech devices. Lee Eun-hee, a professor emeritus of consumer science at Inha University, projected that sleep-related products will become more varied and the market will continue to grow.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]