If ‘the early bird catches the worm’ was a country, it’d be South Africa! Stats have revealed that SA wakes up earlier than many other countries on average, and we can’t help but wonder whether it’s the hustle or the hadedas inspiring our early risers:
South Africa (23 February 2025) — As anyone who’s read the 5 am club will happily tell you, waking up early has a plethora of benefits. Following this logic, it seems South Africans should be reaping a whole lot of these benefits thanks to statistics that have revealed we’re a nation of pretty early risers on average!
According to the World of Statistics in citing the World Population Review, the average South African wake up time is earlier than America, Japan, Germany and Australia. Clocking in an average wake-up time of 6:24 am, South Africans reportedly get a very early start to our days.
The real question is, is it the hustle or the hadedas inspiring our earlier risers?
While some users shared that our average wake-up time is due to planning for public transport—a very long story as those who have to catch multiple taxis to get from point A to B know well—others shared that the time seems inaccurate and that locals actually wake up even earlier.
Needless to say, we know that we’re a nation that ceases the day (and, on a weekend, the night, too).
Other early risers on the list were Colombia, with 6:31 am on the clock, followed by Costa Rica (6:38 am), Indonesia (6:55 am) and Japan (7:09 am). You can view the full list here.
Let us know your average wake-up time in the comments!
Average wake-up time:
🇿🇦 South Africa – 6:24 AM
🇨🇴 Colombia – 6:31 AM
🇨🇷 Costa Rica – 6:38 AM
🇮🇩 Indonesia – 6:55 AM
🇯🇵 Japan – 7:09 AM
🇲🇽 Mexico – 7:09 AM
🇦🇺 Australia – 7:13 AM
🇺🇸 United States – 7:20 AM
🇸🇪 Sweden – 7:21 AM
🇩🇪 Germany – 7:25 AM
🇵🇭 Philippines – 7:28 AM
🇧🇷…— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) February 20, 2025
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