Participation in exercise, recreation and sport in NSW, 2004
All sport and physical activity:
- 4,317,000 people participated in sport and physical activity in 2004 in NSW
- this was a participation rate of 82.0% ( more than 4 out of every 5 people aged 15 and over participated in sport or physical in the 12 months in 2004) – slightly lower than the average rate for Australia of 82.8%
- this was an increase of 0.6% from the previous year’s participation rate of 81.5%
NSW had the 5th highest participation rate behind ACT (88.2%), Victoria (85.1%), WA (84.8%) and NT (82.8%) and ahead of Tasmania (81.4%), Queensland (81.2%) and SA (80.1%).
Top sports/physical activities in NSW were:
- Walking (other than bushwalking) – 37.2%
- Swimming – 18.3%
- Aerobics/fitness – 16.0%
- Tennis – 9.8%
- Cycling – 9.1%
- Golf – 8.7%
- Running – 8.0%
- Bushwalking – 6.3%
- Soccer (outdoor) – 6.2%
- Surf sports – 4.4%
Participation decreases with age:
- 15 - 24 years – 92.9%
- 25 - 34 years – 82.4%
- 35 - 44 years – 84.7%
- 45 - 54 years – 83.7%
- 55 - 64 years – 77.1%
- 65 years and over – 67.7%
Participation rates are similar for both genders in 2004 with slightly more males participating than females – 82.5% for all males aged 15 and over compared to 81.5% females.
Frequency of participation for NSW is not published in the ERASS Report.
Organised sport in NSW:
- 2,246,500 people participated in organised sport in 2004
- this was a participation rate of 42.7% (same as the average for Australia)
- this was an increase of 2.6% from the previous year’s participation rate of 41.6%
More males participate than females in organised sport – 44.5% for all males aged 15 and over compared to 40.9% females in 2004.
NSW was equal 4th out of all states and territories behind ACT (50.7%), Victoria (46.4%) and NT (44.9%) and ahead of Tasmania (40.9%), SA (39.5%) and Queensland (38.8%).
Footnotes: (a) ‘Organised' sports are those that were organized in full or part by a club, association or other type of organisation.
Useful links
Other websites