Contents
- Recreational activity participation by age statistics: sport participation through adulthood in Northern Ireland
- Recreational activity participation by age statistics: U.S. daily sports, exercise, and recreation time
- Recreational activity participation by age statistics: Australian sport participation among children and young adults
- Recreational activity participation by age statistics: Australian motorsport participation by age
- Recreational activity participation by age statistics: Australian youth sport participation by state
- Sources
Recreational activity participation by age statistics: sport participation through adulthood in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland’s Continuous Household Survey 2023/24 measures whether adults took part in at least 1 listed sport during the 12 months before the survey. Walking for recreation is excluded, so these figures describe a defined set of sporting activities rather than all physical recreation. Among adults aged 16–24, 72% participated at least once during that year. The rate was 67% for ages 25–34, 59% for ages 35–44, and 55% for ages 45–54. For adults aged 65 and over, it was 26%.
These age-group rates show a downward pattern across the reported adult groups, from 72% among 16–24-year-olds to 26% among those aged 65 and over. The source excerpt does not provide a figure for every intervening age band, so the values should be read as selected reported groups rather than a complete age-by-age series.
The same survey reports a shorter reference period for 2 age groups. During the 4 weeks before the survey, 66% of adults aged 16–24 had taken part in sport, compared with 22% of those aged 65 and over. A 4-week measure records more recent participation than the annual measure; it should not be substituted for the 12-month rate or treated as a direct measure of how often participants were active.
The survey covers adults aged 16 and over. Its report cautions that results from 2020/21 onward are not directly comparable with earlier years because of changes to methodology and content. These figures therefore describe the 2023/24 survey’s age pattern under its stated definition. Source: NISRA, Experience of sport by adults in Northern Ireland: Findings from the Continuous Household Survey 2023/24
Recreational activity participation by age statistics: U.S. daily sports, exercise, and recreation time
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey measures average daily time spent in activities. Its 2025 tables report primary-activity time in hours per day for the civilian population. This is a time-use measure, not the percentage of people who participated. The average covers the population in each age group, including people who recorded no time in the activity on a given day.
| Age group | Average hours per day, 2025 |
|---|---|
| 15–19 | 0.75 |
| 20–24 | 0.40 |
| 25–34 | 0.33 |
| 35–44 | 0.30 |
| 45–54 | 0.30 |
| 55–64 | 0.25 |
| 65–74 | 0.34 |
| 75 and over | 0.27 |
The measure is “participating in sports, exercise and recreation.” The 15–19 age group had the largest reported daily average in this table, at 0.75 hours. The averages for ages 35–44 and 45–54 were both 0.30 hours per day. The figure for ages 65–74 was 0.34 hours, while the 75-and-over group averaged 0.27 hours. The sequence does not decline steadily with age: daily averages vary between adjacent bands, and they should be interpreted as time averages rather than participation rates.
A second BLS table separates average time by weekday and weekend or holiday day. The values below use the same activity category and 2025 annual averages. Each column is an average for that type of day, not a weekly total.
| Age group | Weekday hours per day | Weekend or holiday hours per day |
|---|---|---|
| 15–19 | 0.83 | 0.56 |
| 20–24 | 0.39 | 0.42 |
| 25–34 | 0.28 | 0.45 |
| 35–44 | 0.29 | 0.33 |
| 45–54 | 0.27 | 0.35 |
| 55–64 | 0.23 | 0.31 |
| 65–74 | 0.37 | 0.26 |
The weekday and weekend-or-holiday pattern differs across age groups. For ages 25–34, the daily average was 0.28 hours on weekdays and 0.45 hours on weekend or holiday days. For ages 65–74, the corresponding averages were 0.37 and 0.26 hours. These are descriptive differences in average primary-activity time; the tables do not establish why they occur. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey News Release – 2025 A01 Results, Tables 11A and 11B
Recreational activity participation by age statistics: Australian sport participation among children and young adults
The Australian Sports Commission’s 2025 participation estimates distinguish children’s organised outside-of-school-hours sport-related activity from sport-related activity for young adults. For children aged 0–14, the measure is participation at least once a week in organised outside-of-school-hours sport-related activity. An estimated 1,833,000 children, or 38%, met that description.
The same child age band is reported by sex: an estimated 977,000 boys (40%) and 853,000 girls (37%) participated at least weekly. These estimates use the source’s child activity definition. The counts and percentages are both reported estimates and should be kept together with the 0–14 age range and weekly frequency threshold.
For Australians aged 15–24, the source reports sport-related activity at least once a week. An estimated 1,491,000 people in this age band participated, representing 43%. The reported estimates by sex were 890,000 males (50%) and 591,000 females (36%). The youth measure is described as sport-related activity; the page distinguishes it from the organised outside-of-school-hours definition used for children.
The different activity wording matters when reading the age comparison: the child measure explicitly concerns organised activity outside school hours, while the 15–24 measure is described as sport-related activity. Both use an at-least-weekly threshold, but their definitions are not identical. These 2025 estimates provide separate snapshots for children and young adults, not a continuous series covering every age. Source: Australian Sports Commission, Children and youth in sport, “Participation – 2025”
Recreational activity participation by age statistics: Australian motorsport participation by age
The Australian Sports Commission’s motorsport estimates give 2 broad age bands for participation at least once in 2025. An estimated 1,200 Australian children aged 0–14 participated in motorsport at least once. Among Australians aged 15 and older, the estimate was 57,000.
For the 15-and-older population, the source also reports estimates by sex: 11,000 women and 45,000 men participated at least once. These are estimates of people, not percentages, and the source does not supply a participation rate for either sex in the checked figures. The 0–14 estimate is presented as a single age-band count, without a further breakdown by age or sex here.
The “at least once” reference differs from the weekly threshold in the Australian sport estimates above. It identifies whether participation occurred during the source’s stated 2025 period, but does not describe frequency beyond that minimum. Motorsport counts should therefore be understood on their own terms rather than directly compared as rates with weekly sport-related activity. Source: Australian Sports Commission, Motorsport | Clearinghouse | Australian Sports Commission, “Participation”
Recreational activity participation by age statistics: Australian youth sport participation by state
State and territory estimates for 2025 show weekly participation in 2 age bands. For children aged 0–14, the measure is organised outside-of-school-hours sport-related activity at least once a week. For youth aged 15–24, it is sport-related activity at least once a week. The table keeps counts and percentages together so the size of the estimated participating population and the reported share can be read side by side.
| State or territory | Children aged 0–14: estimate (share) | Youth aged 15–24: estimate (share) |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory | 34,000 (40%) | 31,000 (44%)* |
| New South Wales | 540,000 (36%) | 493,000 (45%) |
| Northern Territory | 20,000 (37%)* | 11,000 (47%)* |
| Queensland | 381,000 (38%) | 256,000 (39%) |
| South Australia | 129,000 (41%) | 106,000 (49%) |
| Tasmania | 31,000 (34%) | 28,000 (38%) |
| Victoria | 489,000 (40%) | 378,000 (41%) |
| Western Australia | 210,000 (38%) | 189,000 (46%) |
Among children, reported shares range from 34% in Tasmania to 41% in South Australia. The largest listed estimate by count is New South Wales at 540,000 (36%); counts reflect the estimated population size as well as the reported percentage. For youth aged 15–24, the listed shares range from 38% in Tasmania to 49% in South Australia. New South Wales has the largest youth count shown, at 493,000 (45%).
The source marks some estimates with an asterisk and advises that estimates with a relative margin of error between 50% and 100% should be used with caution. This applies to the Australian Capital Territory youth estimate, 31,000 (44%), and to the Northern Territory estimates: 20,000 children (37%) and 11,000 youth (47%). The asterisks are retained in the table to make that source caution visible. As elsewhere in the Australian estimates, the child and youth columns use different activity descriptions, even though both specify at least weekly participation. Source: Australian Sports Commission, Children and youth in sport, “Estimated sport-related state/territory participation”
Sources
- Sport participation - practicing sport and physical activity
- Experience of sport by adults in Northern Ireland: Findings from the Continuous Household Survey 2023/24
- American Time Use Survey News Release - 2025 A01 Results
- Children and youth in sport
- Motorsport | Clearinghouse | Australian Sports Commission