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Long-term increase in activity levels positive but further action needed to tackle inequalities

We’re making new funding available to tackle major differences between demographic groups and places.

25th April 2024

There are two million more adults getting active on a regular basis through sport and physical activity than in 2016, despite the impacts of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and increased cost of living pressures. 

The new figures, which we’ve published today in our latest Active Lives Adult Survey report, show that between November 2022 and November 2023, 63.4% of the adult population met the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of doing 150 minutes, or more, of moderate intensity physical activity a week. That’s equivalent to 29.5 million adults in England playing sport or taking part in physical activity every week. 

This figure is largely unchanged from 12 months ago when 63.1% were active but means that, compared to when we first ran the survey between November 2015 and November 2016, there are two million more active adults – an increase of 1.3%.

Active Lives explained

The number of people classed as inactive – averaging fewer than 30 minutes a week – has remained steady over the last year and 25.7% of the population (11.9m) are in this category compared to 25.8% 12 months ago. 

Infographic showing the basic Active Lives data of how many people are active. They show that 25.7% of adults (11.9 million people) are inactive, 10.9% (5.1m) are fairly active and 63.4% (29.5m) are active. Inactive=less than an average of 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week. Fairly active=30-149 minutes a week. Active=150+ minutes a week.

Key findings

Our Active Lives Adult Survey Report also gives us a detailed understanding of the factors that influence how likely a person is to be active.   

A person’s age, sex, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic group, whether they have a disability or long-term health condition, and the place they live in are all significant factors impacting our relationship with sport and physical activity. 

The report underlines that many longstanding inequalities remain, with women, those from lower socio-economic groups and Black and Asian people still less likely to be active than others. 

It’s why we've put tackling these inequalities at the heart of our Uniting the Movement strategy and, next week, we’ll be announcing details of our new £160m Movement Fund – which will replace a number of smaller programmes including our Small Grants and Active Together funds, making our funding easier to access than ever before and ensuring our investment is targeted where it can make the biggest difference.  

The report also shows that where you live impacts on how likely you are to be active, with those living in more deprived places less likely to be active than those in places that are less deprived, from a high of 79% active in Brighton and Hove to a low of just 49% active in Barking and Dagenham. 

This is why we’re investing £250m in local communities with higher levels of deprivation across England.

Where we have piloted this approach, the places we have worked have outperformed expectations, with activity levels growing more rapidly than other comparable areas of a similar demographic.

We’re now expanding this approach to 80-100 new areas where we think we can make the biggest difference. 

A group of older adults participate in seated exercise in a community centre

More positively, while the older a person gets the less likely they are to be physically active, we’ve seen activity levels continue to grow among older adults over the past 12 months.  

Activity levels for those aged 55+ are the highest they’ve been since records began, with those aged over 75 particularly driving this trend. Currently, 42.8% of people aged over 75 are physically active compared to just 33.4% between November 2015 and November 2016.  

Today’s publication also outlines types of activities people are taking part in and how this is changing over time. 

Active travel and fitness activities, which were significantly impacted by the pandemic, continue to recover as over a million more adults (+2.1%) have walked or cycled for travel and 802,000 (+1.5%) more have taken part in fitness activities compared to 12 months ago. 

Furthermore, swimming numbers are now back in line with pre-pandemic (November 2018-19) levels following an increase of 400,000 (0.8%) compared to 12 months ago, while the number of people playing team sports continues to increase and is now at the highest level seen for six years. 

How this compares to our findings on children’s activity levels 

Today’s report complements our Active Lives Children and Young People Survey we published in December.  

That report, which focussed on children’s activity levels across the 2022-23 academic year, showed activity levels were back in line with those recorded in the 2018-2019 academic year, the last full year before the pandemic, and are once again higher than in 2017-18 when we launched the survey.
 

Download the report

Click on the link below to read our report – if embedded links in the PDF do not function correctly in Google Chrome, please use another browser, or open the report in a dedicated PDF viewer:

Chief executive's reaction

“Today’s figures clearly demonstrate that through intelligent and targeted investment it is possible to increase activity levels and impact positively on people’s lives.

"That there are now two million more active people in England than there were when we first launched our Active Lives Survey seven years ago is down to a huge amount of work from many people and organisations working in the sport and physical activity sector – in particular since the launch of our Uniting the Movement strategy in 2021.

“To see such an increase amongst older adults getting active is significant. This group have traditionally faced many barriers from taking part in sport but – like all of us – have so much to gain from physical activity.

“An active population also benefits us as a society. The Chief Medical Officer has described physical activity as a ‘miracle cure’ and is ideally placed to help ease pressure on our NHS as well as being a fantastic way to build a sense of community.

“But the report also shows us how much there is still to do if we’re to achieve our ambition that everyone in England can enjoy the benefits of taking part in physical activity.

"At the moment, how likely you are to be active depends too much on your bank balance and your postcode.

“That’s why we will continue to target our investment in places where it can make the biggest difference and on the groups who have most to gain.

“Yet we know we can’t fix this alone. A collective approach across Government is essential. Get Active has ambitious targets for participation levels, and they will only be met if – through the National Physical Activity Taskforce and other mechanisms – we see a better join-up in policy and delivery.

"We look forward to playing our part and building on the progress already made."

Tim Hollingsworth

Chief executive, Sport England

Minister's comments

"I'm encouraged by the long-term trend that shows nearly two million more active adults over the last eight years but there is always more to do, as we work towards our target of 3.5 million more active people by 2030. 

"To help us reach this goal we're investing more than £400 million into grassroots facilities, in addition to the £300 plus million Sport England receives in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year, so that everyone can get involved in grassroots sport."

Stuart Andrew MP

Sports Minister

Commissioner's comments

“Today’s Active Lives figures show that, year-on-year, one million more adults are choosing walking, wheeling and cycling as a way to get from A to B. The nationwide investment that is being put into delivering high-quality routes is paying off.

"By enabling more people to build activity into their daily lives we’re making the nation healthier, happier and greener. It’s a win-win for us all.”

Chris Boardman

National Active Travel Commissioner and Sport England Chair

A group of people, run in a park

Deep dive: demographic variation

  • Age

    Age continues to be a major factor that determines how likely a person is to be physically active and the older a person is, the less likely they are to meet the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines. 

    However, there are interesting trends within this.

    Among young people aged 16-34, activity levels are unchanged compared to 12 months ago.

    This indicates we might be seeing a stabilisation at pre-pandemic (Nov 2018-19) levels following long-term decreases.

    The proportion who are active remains 2.2%, or 316,000 young adults, down compared to seven years ago (November 15-16). 

    Among the 35-54 age group there’s an underlying flat trend in activity levels, disrupted only by drops during the pandemic period. 

    Adults aged 75+ continue to drive the growth in activity levels.  

    The increase of just over 100,000 (1.6%) adults aged 75+ who are active compared to 12 months ago is part of a long-term increase of just under 700,000 (9.4%) compared to seven years ago (Nov 15-16). 

    Those aged 55-74 also have a long-term upward trend in the proportion active.  

    For both age groups (55-74 and 75+) the latest result represents the highest ever result recorded over the last seven years. 

    The proportion of people who believe they have the ability or opportunity to be active decreases with age. 

    Read less
  • Gender

    Men (65.9%) are more likely to be active than women (61.2%), although both have seen activity levels increase over the last seven years. 

    There are 914,000 (1.4%) more men and 831,000 (1.3%) more women who are active compared to November 2015-16. 

    Despite this, neither men nor women have seen activity levels change compared to 12 months ago. 

    Men are more likely to have positive attitudes towards sport and physical activity compared to women. 

    Since November 2018-19 there’s been a slight widening of the gender gap in perceived opportunity.  

    Women saw a small decrease (-1.2%) while men saw no change in the proportion strongly agreeing they feel they have the opportunity to be physically active. 

    Read less
  • Socio-economic groups

    Those from lower social groups (NS-SEC 6-8) are the least likely to be active. Just 52.6% of these groups are active compared to 72.7% of higher social groups (NS-SEC 1-2). 

    The most affluent (NS-SEC 1-2) have seen long-term growth, with the active proportion increasing by 1.6% compared to seven years ago (Nov 2015-16).  

    In contrast, the least affluent (NS-SEC 6-8) have seen the proportion active drop by 2.2% over the same period. 

    The least affluent (NS-SEC 6-8) are the least likely to feel they have the ability to be active (31%), perceive they have the opportunity to be active (27%), or to find sports enjoyable and satisfying (25%).

    In contrast, the most affluent (NS-SEC 1-2) are most likely to feel they have the ability to be active (47%), perceive they have the opportunity to be active (39%), or to find sports enjoyable and satisfying (37%). 

    Read less
  • Ethnicity

    The proportion of people who play sport or are physically active varies between different ethnic groups. 

    White British adults (65% active) have seen activity levels increase by 2.1% since November 2015-16, while neither Black (55% active) nor Asian (excluding Chinese) (55% active) adults are showing a reportable difference in the proportion who are active over this timeframe. 

    As such, inequalities continue to widen.

    Read less
  • Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions

    People with a disability or long-term health condition (47.9%) are less likely to be active than those without (68.6%).  

    Activity levels remain unchanged compared to 12 months ago for those with a disability or long-term health condition, indicating a period of stability.

    Before the pandemic, activity levels were increasing and we continue to see 4.2% more active adults with a disability or long-term health condition compared to seven years ago (November 15-16). 

    This long-term growth is greater than for those without a disability or long-term health condition, where the proportion active is up by 1.9% over the same period – meaning the gap has closed.  

    However, adults with a disability or long-term health condition are notably less likely to have positive attitudes compared to those without. 

    While perceived capability and enjoyment are both unchanged compared to four years ago, perceived opportunity has fallen to 17.2% (-1.0%). In contrast, perceived opportunity has increased among those without a disability or long-term health condition (to 39.3%, +0.6%). 

    Read less
  • Place

    There’s a growing divide in activity levels based on where someone lives. 

    68.6% of people living in the least deprived places (IMD 8-10) are active, compared to 55.5% of those living in the most deprived places (IMD 1-3). 

    The least (IMD 8-10, +2.5%) and mid (IMD 4-7, +1.3%) deprived places are seeing more active adults compared to seven years ago (November 2015-16), whereas the most deprived places (IMD 1-3) have seen this proportion fall by 2.5% over the same period and remain below pre-pandemic levels. 

    Furthermore, activity levels remain unchanged compared to 12 months ago for those living in the most deprived places (IMD 1-3). This indicates that we'll see no further pandemic recovery, with levels settling below those seen pre-pandemic. 

    Read less

Deep dive: types of activities

Over the past 12 months there's been further evidence of activity levels recovering and settling down after the pandemic.  

Both active travel and fitness numbers continue to recover. Over a million more adults (+2.1%) walked or cycled for travel and 802,000 (+1.5%) more have taken part in fitness activities compared to 12 months ago. 

Swimming numbers are back in line with pre-pandemic (November 18-19) levels with 4.2m people taking part at least twice in the last 28 days, following an increase of 400,000 (+0.8%) compared to 12 months ago.  

Despite this, we're still seeing a long-term decline with 666,000 (-1.9%) fewer adults swimming compared to seven years ago (Nov 15-16). 

Team sports numbers continue to increase and are now at the highest level seen for six years. It’s unclear at this stage whether levels will settle here or continue to recover to the highs of November 2015-16. There remain 188,000 (-0.8%) fewer team sports players compared to seven years ago. 

Cycling numbers continue to fall, with all the gains during the pandemic now lost – this suggests we might be seeing a return to the downward trend observed before the pandemic. There are 246,000 (-1.1%) fewer cyclists now than six years ago (November 2016-17). 

Running numbers had previously been indicating a return to their pre-pandemic downward trend; however the latest result suggests we might be seeing some stabilisation. There remain 656,000 (-2.1%) fewer runners compared to seven years ago (November 2015-16) 

Deep dive: attitudes

Someone’s Capability, Opportunity and Motivation to be active combine to drive their Behaviour (the COM-B model*). The absence of just one of these can lead to someone becoming inactive.  

Our data on these attitudes helps us to better understand people’s activity levels. 

Infographic illustrating the COM-B model. Behaviour sits in a box at the top, with Capability, Movitavion and Opportunity, sitting beneath it in a row of separate boxes. Double ended arrows link behaviour with the other three boxes. Single ended arrow point from capability and opportunity, to motivation.

We record the number of people who say they ‘strongly agree’ with the following statements: 

  • Capability
    • I feel I have the ability to be physically active. Ability includes physical ability and confidence. 
  • Opportunity 
    • I feel I have the opportunity to be physically active. 
  • Motivation
    • I find sport enjoyable and satisfying. 

Attitudes towards sport and physical activity are back in line with four years ago and indicate recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.  
 

Further reading

The impact of Uniting the Movement

Our long-term strategy, Uniting the Movement, aims to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. 

Initially focussed on helping grassroots sports clubs and physical activity providers recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Uniting the Movement is now primarily concerned with tackling the long-standing inequalities that make it much harder for some people to enjoy the benefits of being active than others.

Three years of Uniting the Movement

Our work in specific places

In November, we announced a major and unprecedented expansion of our investment into local communities across England to ensure those in greatest need are able to be physically active. 

The extension of our Place Partnerships work will help more people to be physically active by breaking down the barriers that get in the way.

Place Partnerships expanded to help those in greatest need

What's next?

We'll publish our next Active Lives Children and Young People Survey report, which will cover the 2023/24 academic year, on Thursday 5 December 2024.  

Our next Active Lives Adult Survey report will be published on Thursday 24 April 2025. It’ll cover the period from November 2023 to November 2024.

Additional information

The Active Lives Adult Survey, which was established in November 2015, provides a world-leading approach to gathering data on how adults aged 16 and over in England engage with sport and physical activity.    

The survey is conducted to provide decision-makers, government departments, local authorities, delivery bodies and the sport and physical activity sector detailed insight and understanding of people's sport and physical activity habits.    

It’s carried out by leading research company IPSOS and produced by us in collaboration with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, the Department for Transport and Arts Council England.

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