We use facts and figures on a daily basis to shape our policy work and our arguments.

Here you can find a range of information relating to the current status of sport and recreation in the UK and the wider social and economic impact sport and recreation can have.

For references to the facts and figures below please download a copy of Sport in the UK – Facts and Figures.

Last updated April 2013

Quick links:

Economy/finance/funding
Major events
Physical health
Mental health
Sports volunteering
Social cohesion
Crime and anti-social behaviour
Participation
Sports clubs
Facilities
School sport
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Local Authorities

Economy/finance/funding

• Every £1 awarded by the Football Foundation generates £7.73 to the wider UK economy through a combination of indirect spending in the supply chain and increased consumer spending from incomes received.
   
• Central government expenditure on sport and recreation was £2.1 billion for the fiscal year 2010, it was estimated at £1.9 billion for the fiscal year 2011.

• In 2008 central government made a net surplus of £5.7 billion from sport. For every £1 the Government contributes to sport, £5 is taken in tax.

• In the financial year 2009/2010, Sport England received a total of £263.2m funding. This consisted of £126.9m from the National Lottery (compared to £128.8m in 2008/2009) and £134.4m of Exchequer or grant-in-aid funding.

• Consumer spend on sport in England was £17 billion in 2008.
   
• Sport England made a £1.7 million two-year investment into the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) to help get more women involved in sport.
   
• The number of people with sport-related jobs has reached 441,000 – that’s 1.8% of all employment in England.
   
• The economic value of sports volunteering in England is estimated to be just under £2 billion a year – this is what it would cost to employ full time workers to carry out the work of sports volunteers, based on the median hourly wage.
  
  
• It is estimated that for every £1 of National Lottery funding invested into major sporting events, an average of £4.90 of additional direct economic impact is generated for the host city and region.
   
• In total, cycling contributes £2.9 billion to UK economy, this equates to £230 per cyclist per annum.
   
• Regular cyclists take one sick-day less per year, which saves the economy £128 million per year in absenteeism.
   
• A 20 per cent increase in cycling levels by 2015 would save Britain's economy £207 million in reduced traffic congestion and £71 million in lower pollution levels.
   
• Sports admissions, leisure class fees and equipment hire cost the average household £5.30 per week.
   

Major events

• It is estimated that for every £1 of National Lottery funding invested into major sporting events, an average of £4.90 of additional direct economic impact is generated for the host city and region.

• The 2011 British Grand Prix contributed an estimated £14 million to Treasury coffers through VAT on ticket sales. Wimbledon, as the most attended sporting event of 2011 made the next highest VAT contribution to Treasury at an estimated £4 million. Looking at the levels of attendance for all of the top 10 paid sporting events combined, by hosting these in the UK, the Treasury receives an estimated £30 million in VAT.

• In 2010 the London Marathon generated £110.1m of economic activity in the UK, and a further £31.7m via spending in the capital by marathon runners, spectators, organisers and visitors.
   
• An estimated £17 billion was spent during visits to the natural environment during 2010/11.

Physical health

• Exercising for just 15 minutes a day can increase your life expectancy by three years compared with doing little or no exercise. Those who exercised for an average of 92 minutes per week had a 14% overall reduced risk of mortality and a 10% reduced risk of cancer compared with people in the "inactive" group. Every additional 15 minutes of exercise above and beyond the minimum amount further reduced mortality risks by 4% and risks of death from cancers by 1%. Individuals who were inactive had a 17% increased risk of mortality compared with individuals in the low-volume group

• Physical activity reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by more than 50%

• Middle-aged women who do less than one hour of exercise per week are twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 29% more likely to die from cancer than physically active women of the same age

• In 2009, nearly one in four adults, and almost two in ten children aged 2-15, were obese, while the direct costs caused by obesity are estimated to be £4.2 billion per year. This is set to more than double by 2050 unless obesity is tackled effectively

• A common gene called FTO is associated with a 20-30 per cent increased risk of obesity, research found that the effect of this gene was reduced by 27 per cent in people classed as physically active compared with their physically inactive counterparts

• 66% of male adults (16+) and 57% of female adults (16+) in England are either overweight or obese

• 31% of girls (2-15) in England are either overweight or obese, and 29% of boys (2-15) are either overweight or obese

• By 2025 it is estimated that 47% of men and 36% of women will be obese

• 71% of women (16+) and 61% of men (16+) in England do not currently meet the physical activity recommendations for adults (30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on at least five days each week)

• 76% of girls (2-15) and 68% of boys (2-15) in England do not currently meet the physical activity recommendations for children (60 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity every day each week)

Mental health

• One in six people experience a mental health problem every day and there is a staggering cost of £105.2bn a year to the economy from mental ill health. NHS and social care costs are over £21bn a year whilst sick leave absence and unemployment costs are as high as £30bn a year

• Physical activity is as effective as medication in treating depression; a 16-week study of 202 men and women found that 45% of patients diagnosed with major depression no longer met the criteria for depression after exercising three times a week in a supervised group setting. This is on a par with the 47% of patients who no longer met the criteria after taking anti-depressants

Sports volunteering

• There are more volunteers in sport than any other sector with 22% of all volunteering in England taking place in the area of sports and exercise

• In April to December 2010, 23.7% of adults had volunteered and 19.8% of these volunteered in sport

• Nearly 2 million adults (1,914,300) in England contribute at least one hour a week to volunteering in sport

• The economic value of sports volunteering in England is estimated to be just under £2 billion a year – this is what it would cost to employ full time workers to carry out the work of sports volunteers, based on the median hourly wage

• 87% of employers believe volunteering can have a positive effect on career progression whilst 97% of volunteering organisations have experienced this happening

• Employers identify communication and teamwork as the most important skills for employment (average scores of 8.8 and 8.6 out of 10 respectively). 88% of employers believe that both of these skills can be developed through volunteering

Social cohesion

• Sports club members in the UK are more likely than non-members to be politically engaged, meet socially with friends and have trust in civil institutions. Membership of a sports club in the UK has an equivalent effect on life satisfaction and happiness as moving up approximately one and a half household income categories – around £3,600

Crime and anti-social behaviour

• It is estimated that in 2009-2010 the 201,800 criminal offences committed by young people (aged between ten and 17 years old) cost the country between £8.5 billion and £11 billion

• The Kickz programme uses football to work with hard to reach young people in deprived areas across the UK. Analysis of Kickz in Elthorne Park (North London) found that every £1 invested in the programme generated £7 of value for the state and local community, largely by reducing youth and gang violence

• 2nd Chance uses sports coaching to help young offenders build relationships, improve behaviour, obtain sports qualifications and receive guidance from mentors once released. If just five of the 400 young people they work with each year are prevented from re-offending the value for every £1 invested is £4.70. It is estimated that the cost to society and services of one offender at an offender's institute is £80,000 per year. At a running cost of £87,000 per year, 2nd Chance demonstrates the significant value in investing in sports provision for prevention of crime

Participation

• Since 2005/06, the proportion of 16-24 year olds participating in sport has decreased, while the proportion of people aged 75+ participating has increased

• 15.51 million adults (16+) in England participate in moderate intensity level sport at least once a week for 30 minutes or more.

• 7.4 million adults (16+) in England participate in moderate intensity level sport at least three times a week for 30 minutes or more, as recommended by the Government.
   
• 20.5 per cent of men (16+) and 12.4 per cent of women (16+) in England participate in moderate intensity level sport at least three times a week.

• Young people who participate in sport every day are twice as likely to have high levels of happiness than those who participate in sport on two or fewer days a week.

Sports clubs

• There are an estimated 151,000 sports clubs in the UK
   
• The average club’s annual surplus has fallen by almost half in three years to £1,091 in 2010.

• More than a quarter of clubs are running at a loss. Only 23% of sports clubs are managing to balance their income and expenditure to break even, and a further 28% are operating with a deficit. This leaves just under half (49%) of clubs operating with a surplus.

• In 2010 the average annual income of a sports club was 15% lower (£35,736) than it was in 2008 (£41,937). Declining adult membership levels (11% down) and significant reductions in other sources of income, including bar, catering and hospitality are the main causal factors.

• Local authority and educational establishments currently provide half of all playing facilities. Together, local authority (41%) and educational establishments (32%) provide 73% of all hired sports facilities and nearly half (48%) of all sports provision for community clubs.

• Sports club members in the UK are more likely than non-members to be politically engaged, meet socially with friends and have trust in civil institutions. Membership of a sports club in the UK has an equivalent effect on life satisfaction and happiness as moving up approximately one and a half household income categories – around £3,600.

Facilities

• Local authority and educational establishments currently provide half of all playing facilities. Together, local authority (41%) and educational establishments (32%) provide 73% of all hired sports facilities and nearly half (48%) of all sports provision for community clubs.

• Between November and April, when daylight is shorter illuminating outdoor courts adds 35% more playing time. An outdoor floodlit court can provide 3,500 playing hours a year compared to 2,500 playing hours from an outdoor non floodlit court (these figures are with an allowance of 35% for bad weather).

• Over 90% of the population live within two miles of a waterway.

• Only 8% of the rivers in England can be accessed by the public.

• There have been 226 applications for the sale of school playing fields for development approved in the last 13 years that involve the sale of a school playing field. Of these 112 were in respect of closed schools where the playing field was not needed by any other local school.

School sport

• 32% of pupils in years 2-13 participate in community sports, dance and/or multi skill clubs that have links to the school. This equates to 2.4 million participants.

London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

• The Olympics and Paralympics have made more than half of people abroad think more positively about how the UK views disability (56%) and the UK’s sporting prowess (52%).
   
• In 2011, 2 in 5 (39.7%) people in the UK are strongly supportive of the Games; this is a significant decrease from 2005/2006 when half (48.4%) felt this way. In the same time period, the proportion of those who are slightly supportive has increased to 24.9% from 22.5%

• 6.9% of adults reported that they were motivated to do more sport or recreational physical activity as a result of the UK winning the bid for the 2012 Olympics. 5.8% reported that they were motivated to do more voluntary work

• 85.6% of adults intend to follow the London 2012 Olympic or Paralympic Games; with 1 in 4 adults (25.3%) actively getting involved in the Games

• 75p in every £1 spent on the Olympic build was invested in regeneration

• The overall funding package for the Olympic Games is £9.298 billion

• 84% of sports clubs do not see the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as an opportunity

• 240,000 people registered their interest to volunteer at the Games; 70,000 volunteers were selected

Local Authorities

• Over the course of the 2012-2013 spending review, local government received a 28% reduction in resource.
   
• The average across the most deprived 20% of councils is a reduction of £8 per head.
   
• Local government spends twice as much on providing cultural and sporting opportunities for communities as DCMS and the National Lottery combined.
   
• In 2009/10, Local Government net spend on culture and sport services was £3.46 billion (it was £3.32 billion in 2007-08)
   
• Excluding the Olympics the 2010/11 Central Government spent on sport was £0.314bn (incidentally this is less than 0.001% of total spend).
   
• In 2010/11, central government spent £0.193bn on sport generally (-13.4% after inflation than in 2009/10), £0.121bn on sport England (-12.3% after inflation than in 2009/10) and £0.362bn on the Olympics (-12.7%).
   
• Money to fund local council services will have shrunk by 90% in cash terms in 2020 if the current budget restriction continues. The overall gap between income and spending is estimated to be around £1.4 billion in 2013/14 and over £16.5 billion in 2019/20.