Females Aged 15+
Headline indicators
Participate in sport or physical activity 1+ per week
Participate in sport-related activity 1+ per week
Participate through a sports club or association 1+ per year
Take on a non-playing role 1+ per year
Top motivations in 2022–23
Physical health or fitness
Fun/enjoyment
Social reasons
Psychological/mental health/therapy
To be outdoors/enjoy nature
What’s changed?
Fewer females aged 15+ are motivated by being outdoors/enjoying nature in 2022-23 than in 2021-22. This is likely linked to exercise being used as a reason to be able to leave home during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Top barriers in 2022–23
Poor health or injury
Not enough time/too many other commitments
Increasing age/too old
Not a priority (any more)
Too lazy
What’s changed?
Not having enough time to exercise is becoming more of a barrier again for women, though it is not yet back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
All participation rates 2016–17 to 2022–23
What’s changed?
Participation rates among females 15+ have declined across regular frequencies. Rates for 1+ per week, 3+ per week, 5+ per week and 7+ per week, which increased for women during COVID-19, have dropped back to previous levels or below.
Most popular sport-related activities 2022–23
777,000
734,000
405,000
242,000
236,000
199,000
178,000
174,000
132,000
111,000
853,000
668,000
503,000
184,000
147,000
115,000
105,000
85,000
76,000
66,000
659,000
324,000
195,000
175,000
157,000
110,000
75,000
73,000
60,000
49,000
Top 10 sports/activities shown.
Most popular non-sport-related activities 2022–23
1,688,000
1,223,000
464,000
354,000
349,000
315,000
120,000
2,019,000
1,353,000
517,000
508,000
421,000
252,000
84,000
2,494,000
1,431,000
344,000
323,000
317,000
111,000
72,000
Activities with estimates of less than 40,000 not shown.
*Virtual/technology-based/gaming exercise, for example, motion sensing console games, smart treadmills, online platforms such as Zwift.
