How many people snore in the UK, how loud it really gets, and what it does to the person lying next to them. Compiled by REM-Fit from the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, the NHS and REM-Fit's own database of 105,165 UK mattress-finder responses. Free to cite with a link to this page.
Last updated: September 2026 • Next update: January 2027
How many people in the UK snore?
An estimated 44% of UK adults aged 30 to 69 snore, and over 40% of the UK adult population as a whole, according to the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association [1]. Applied to the roughly 54 million adults in the UK, that is more than 20 million people making noise at night.
Men snore roughly twice as often as women: the BSSAA puts the male to female ratio at approximately 2:1 [1]. Snoring also becomes more common with age as muscle tone in the throat declines, which is why the 30 to 69 age band carries the highest rates.
The position link, from REM-Fit's own data: back sleeping is the position most associated with snoring, because the tongue and soft palate fall towards the airway. In REM-Fit's mattress-finder database of 105,165 UK responses, 30.1% of mattress shoppers sleep only on their back, while 52.7% sleep only on their side, the position the NHS recommends to reduce snoring [2][3].
How loud is snoring?
Snoring starts at around 50 decibels and can reach up to 120 decibels, which the BSSAA compares to sleeping next to an industrial machine [4]. For context, workplace rules require ear protection for sustained exposure above 85 to 90 decibels, and the World Health Organization links continuous night-time sound above just 30 decibels with disturbed sleep [4].
Ear plugs help but cannot fully block volumes above 50 decibels [4], which is why heavy snoring so often ends with separate rooms rather than better ear plugs.
What snoring does to the other person
Clinical observation of snorers' bed partners found them woken as often as 21 times per hour, with worse sleep efficiency, more arousals and a greater share of light sleep than partners of non-snorers [4]. In effect, one person's snoring produces two people's sleep deprivation, and the partner often gets the worse night.
Fragmented sleep of that kind carries the costs documented across sleep research: RAND Europe estimates sleep deprivation costs the UK economy around 40 billion pounds a year [5], and the figures collected in REM-Fit's UK Sleep Statistics report show only 27.9% of UK adults reach the recommended seven hours or more.
When snoring is sleep apnoea
Around 1.5 million adults in the UK are estimated to have obstructive sleep apnoea, and up to 85% of them are undiagnosed [6]. The warning signs that separate apnoea from ordinary snoring are pauses in breathing, gasping or choking during sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness despite a full night in bed; the NHS advises seeing a GP if those are present [3].
What actually reduces snoring?
The NHS lists side sleeping as the first self-help step, alongside weight management, avoiding alcohol before bed and not smoking [3]. Position is the lever a bedroom can pull: a supportive pillow at the right height keeps a side sleeper on their side and the airway aligned, which is the subject of REM-Fit's guides to the best pillow for snoring and the best mattress for snoring and acid reflux, with every model in the hybrid mattress range built to make side sleeping comfortable enough to hold all night.
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Sources: [1] British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, prevalence estimates • [2] REM-Fit Mattress Finder database, 105,165 responses, 2022 to 2026, published at Back Pain and Mattresses • [3] NHS, Snoring • [4] BSSAA, Snoring and noise pollution (decibel range, WHO 30 dB threshold, partner arousal findings) • [5] RAND Europe, Why Sleep Matters • [6] estimate as collected with full citations in REM-Fit UK Sleep Statistics. Last updated: September 2026.
