Ethnicity

At a glance

Active Lives

Analysis from our latest Active Lives Adult Survey shows that Mixed and White Other adults continue to have the highest activity levels, while South Asian, Black and those with other ethnic origins are the least likely to be active.

Research also shows there are differences in the types of sport and activity that people of different ethnic groups do.

For some, we also observe a larger difference between levels of physical activity between men and women. For example, we know that females from White backgrounds are also more likely to take part in sport and physical activity compared to people from Asian, Other and Black backgrounds.

Many of the patterns in sport and physical activity participation by ethnicities reflect those observed between different faith groups. This highlights the closeness of the relationship that exists between faith and ethnicity amongst many groups and communities.

A group of people doing chair exercises.

A collaborative approach

We’re committed to reducing inactivity within ethnic groups. We believe it’s important to understand the differing motivations and barriers for specific audiences when it comes to sport and physical activity, rather than a one size fits all approach responding to stereotypes.

Importantly, people within ethnic groups cannot be thought of as one homogenous group of people. A complex backdrop of economic and health inequalities magnifies the impact of barriers to getting active felt by all, such as confidence or knowing where to go, through to cost, lack of time and appropriate opportunity. This explains why there isn’t a single reason for inactivity levels within ethnic groups.

That's why we believe a collaborative approach will address the fundamental issue of reducing inactivity within ethnic groups.

In practise, this means working in partnership with a variety of organisations across sectors who know and understand the specific audiences we want to target, including partners who we’ve traditionally not worked with.

By ensuring investments are insight and evidence-based, we can succeed in delivering more opportunities for people within ethnic groups to get active.

Our strategy – Uniting the Movement

Uniting the Movement, our 10-year strategy launched in 2021, is our plan to make being physically active a normal part of life for everyone in England – to make it easier for all of us as we go about our everyday lives.

Because currently, it’s not always a level playing field.

There are deep-rooted inequalities in sport and physical activity, which mean there are people who feel excluded from being active because the right options and opportunities aren’t there.

People from Asian and Black backgrounds are far more likely to be physically inactive than people who are White – a fact reinforced by our 2020 ‘Sport for All?’ report.

This inequality, as well as others, are at the very core of Uniting the Movement and we have a laser focus on tackling them in all that we do, because providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, and helping to remove the barriers to activity, has never been more important.

Learn more about our Uniting the Movement strategy

Research

Active Lives: the figures

Published twice a year, Our Active Lives Adult Survey measures the activity levels of people across England.

The findings from our May 18/19 report show that Mixed and White Other adults continue to have the highest activity levels, while Asian (excluding Chinese), Black and those with other ethnic origins are the least likely to be active.

After White British, the largest ethnic groups within the English adult population are Asian (excluding Chinese (6%) and White Other (5%). The Chinese and Other ethnic group populations are much smaller (less than 1%), therefore caution should be applied when looking at change in participation levels for these groups.

Find out more about the Active Lives surveys

Sport for all

Our report, ‘Sport for all - why ethnicity and culture matters in sport and physical activity’, is the most comprehensive ever picture of how people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are taking part in sport and physical activity.

The report considers:

Overall levels of activity and the significant differences between different ethnic groups
The types of activities undertaken by adults and children from different ethnic backgrounds
The impact of overlaying multiple demographic characteristics upon activity levels.

Sport for all

Download the file - 1.94 MB

Active Lives Children and Young People Survey

Active Lives Children and Young People provides a world-leading approach to gathering data on how children aged 5-16 engage with sport and physical activity.

Our latest survey indicates that girls from Asian and Black backgrounds and both boys and girls from ‘other’ backgrounds (such as Arab and South American), are more likely to be less active.

The age at which these differences are seen varies depending on the group. For example, girls from Black backgrounds are more likely to be less active from Years 5-6 (ages 9-11) upwards. In contrast, girls from Asian backgrounds are more likely to be less active in Years 9-11 (ages 13-16) only (47% compared to 37% of all children and young people).

Download the report by visiting our Active Lives page.

Read the Active Lives report

Our other research

Our research shows that ethnic groups and communities have differing participation levels:

White British

More likely to walk for leisure than any other ethnic group
2.6% of this population play golf (higher than any other ethnic group)
11.1% of White British people take part in swimming – this is a higher proportion than South Asian, Black, Chinese and Other ethnic groups and communities.

South Asian

More likely to play racket sports (7.3%) than most other ethnic groups and communities
7.3% of the South Asian population take part in football, in comparison to 4.1% of the White British population
2.6% of South Asians play cricket, a higher proportion than all other ethnic groups and communities.

Black

More likely to take part in gym sessions (16.9%) in comparison to most other ethnic groups and communities
11.9% of the Black population take part in team sports compared to 6.4% of the White British population
7.6% of the Black population take part in football compared to 4.1% of the White British population.

Mixed

Most likely of all ethnic groups and communities to take part in sporting or fitness activities generally
12.1% of the Mixed population take part in team sports, higher than any other ethnic group or community
The Mixed population is most likely to run (21.1%) compared to all other ethnic groups and communities.

The generally lower level of involvement of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups and communities in sport and physical activity is not confined to participation, with it also extending to spectating, volunteering and sport and physical activity administrative roles.

Because BAME communities are under-represented in official positions within sports organisations, this results in less representation and influence at decision-making levels.

Getting people in ethnic groups active

Not a 'one size fits all' approach

We’re committed to combatting inactivity. We believe it’s important to understand the differing motivations and barriers for specific audiences when it comes to sport and physical activity, rather than a one size fits all approach responding to stereotypes.

Importantly, people within ethnic groups cannot be thought of as one homogenous group of people. This explains why there isn’t a single reason for their inactivity. That's why we believe only a multi-layered approach will address the fundamental issue of combatting inactivity.

In practise, this means working in partnership with a variety of organisations across the system to ensure investments are insight and evidence-based, with the goal of delivering more opportunities for people within different ethnic groups to get involved with sport and physical activity.

Learn more about our Towards an Active Nation strategy

This Girl Can

This Girl Can is our nationwide campaign to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size and ability.

This Girl Can believes that there’s no right way to get active – if it gets your heart rate up it counts. And we want more women to find what’s right for them.

The campaign celebrates active women who are doing their thing no matter how they look, how well they do it or how sweaty they get. In the process, we want to challenge the conventional idea of what exercise looks like and reach out to women of all backgrounds and ethnicities who feel left behind by traditional exercise.

In doing so, we’re aiming to inspire more women and girls to wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement, time, money and energy are barriers that can be overcome.

To learn more, visit the This Girl Can website.

Visit the This Girl Can website

Research review

Our review of research in the field found relatively low numbers of people from ethnic minorities in sport. This was true of spectators, volunteers and administrators as well as players.

The paper recommends good practice for sports providers, including:

Training for those working in sport on the needs of other ethnic communities and on challenging exclusion
Ensuring that racial equality objectives in policies are converted into practice
Training sports facilitators from Black and minority ethnic communities.

The full report, as well as a summary report, are both available to download via the links below.

systematic review of the literature on BME communities in sport

Download the file - 2.68 MB

systematic review of the literature on bme communities in sport summary report

Download the file - 1.05 MB