The NHS figures show more sleeping pills were doled out down South in the past year, mainly in seaside resorts.
Nationally GPs wrote eight million prescriptions worth £66million in total last year.
Experts claim our “always-on” lives have contributed to an insomnia epidemic.
Clacton in Essex was top of the list, with 3.14 per cent of the population needing help to drop off.
Other seaside hotspots in the top ten are Devon, Cornwall and Brighton.
Lincolnshire, St Helens and South Sefton on Merseyside are the only northern areas in the rankings.
Patients in their 50s were the most likely to be prescribed sleeping pills, followed by those in their 70s.
There have been fears about people getting hooked.
Earlier this year, Boris Johnson’s ex-lover Petronella Wyatt said she had checked into a Swiss clinic to break her addiction.
Nuno Albuquerque, of the UK Addiction Treatment Group, said: “In today’s world, our minds can wander when they should be resting.”
