Active People Survey: women's sport participation

Published in March 2010, this factsheet highlights the headline findings for women's sports participation from the 2008-09 Active People Survey. It also includes more detailed demographic data from the 2007-08 Active People Survey.

There has been a significant decrease between 2007-08 and 2008-09 in women’s regular sport participation (down 61,000 to 2.727 million) while men have seen a significant increase (up 176,600 to 4.203 million).

There has been significant increases in women taking part in athletics, netball and canoeing on a weekly basis.

There has been a significant decrease in numbers of female swimmers, dance exercisers, gymnasts, skiers, squash players and those playing rugby union.