Overall, the most common activity adults reported participating in was ‘Walking (over 2 miles)’; 37% of adults said they had participated in this activity at least once during the previous four weeks, equating to 943,000 people.
The sport or physical activity that had the highest demand was Swimming, with 9% of adults saying they would like to do more, equating to 234,000 people.
Graph 13: Top three participation activities, by broad category.
Graph 13 illustrates the three activities within each broad category that had the highest number of adults participating during the previous four weeks.
Within fitness activities, the most common activity adults reported participating in was Walking (over 2 miles), with 943,000 adults having participated during the previous four weeks. Following this, 266,000 adults reported participating in Fitness Classes, and 200,000 adults reported participating in Weightlifting.
Within Games and Sports, the combined category of ‘Athletics, Running and/or Jogging’ was the most common activity adults reported participating in; 283,000 adults had participated at least once during the previous four weeks. Following this, 88,000 adults participated in Golf, and 86,000 adults participated in Football.
Within Outdoor Pursuits, the activity of Climbing and/or Mountaineering was the most common; 24,000 adults participated at least once during the previous four weeks in this type of activity. Following this, 23,000 adults participated in Fishing and/or Angling, and 21,000 adults participated in Canoeing and/or Kayaking.
Graph 14: Top three activities adults have demand for, by broad category.
Graph 14 illustrates the top three activities adults wanted to do more of, within each broad category.
Within Fitness Activities, the most common activity adults reported a demand for was Swimming, with 234,000 adults saying they wanted to do more. Following this, 115,000 adults said they wanted to participate in more Fitness Classes, and 79,000 adults said they wanted to participate in more Cycling.
Within Games and Sports, the most common activity adults reported a demand for was Football, with 57,000 adults saying they wanted to do more. Following this, 47,000 adults said they wanted to participate in more Athletics, Running and/or Jogging, and 36,000 adults said they wanted to play more Golf.
Within Outdoor Pursuits, the most common activity adults reported a demand for was Canoeing and/or Kayaking, with 23,000 adults saying they wanted to do more. Following this, 20,000 adults said they wanted to participate in more Fishing and/or Angling, and 19,000 adults said they wanted to do more Horse Riding.