Benthic O₂ uptake is a robust proxy for organic matter mineralization in marine sediments. Therefore, studying sediment oxygen consumption is conducive to understanding the global marine carbon cycle. Three approaches are commonly used to measure oxygen consumption at the SWI: oxygen microprofiling, benthic incubation, and the eddy covariance technique. The emerging eddy covariance technique is a non-invasive approach that can measure benthic O₂ flux on a relatively large scale, and thus has wide application. Globally, benthic oxygen consumption is controlled by water depth and primary productivity in surface water. In addition, benthic diffusive oxygen uptake and total oxygen uptake decreased significantly and their ratios approached 1 with increasing water depth. This was mainly caused by the substantial decrease in benthic biomass and resulting benthic oxygen consumption with increasing water depth. Despite more than half a century of observations of benthic oxygen consumption, in-situ data remain scarce, especially in deep-sea and extreme marine environments. A large amount of measured data are still single-point observations within a short time period. Against the background of global warming and the increasing impact of human activities on marine environments and ecosystems, it is necessary to conduct high-precision and long-term in situ observations of benthic oxygen consumption globally.