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Participation in exercise, recreation and sport in NSW, 2005

All sport and physical activity:

  • 4,429,600 people participated in sport or physical activity in 2005
  • this was a participation rate of 83.5% (more than four out of every five people aged 15 and over participated in sport or physical in the 12 months in 2005)

NSW had the 4th highest participation rate behind ACT (89.0%), Vic (84.7%) and WA (83.8%) and ahead of NT (83.0%), SA (82.9%), Tas (81.2%) and Qld (80.9%).

The most popular sports/physical activities in NSW were:

  1. Walking (other than bushwalking)
  2. Aerobics/fitness
  3. Swimming
  4. Tennis
  5. Cycling
  6. Golf
  7. Running
  8. Bushwalking
  9. Soccer (outdoor)
  10. Yoga

Participation decreases with age:

  • 15 - 24 years - 94.3%
  • 25 - 34 years - 85.2%
  • 35 - 44 years - 85.3%
  • 45 - 54 years - 80.4%
  • 55 - 64 years - 83.4%
  • 65 years and over - 70.7%

Participation rates are similar for both genders with a slightly higher rate for males than females – 84.1% for all males aged 15 and over compared to 83.0% females.

Frequency of participation for NSW is not published in the ERASS Report.

Organised a sport in NSW:

  • 2,209,500 people participated in organised sport in 2005
  • this was a participation rate of 41.7% (just under the national average of 41.8%)
  • this was a slight decrease on the previous year's rate of 42.7%

NSW was 6th out of all states and territories behind ACT (49.1%), WA (43.0%), Victoria (42.8%), SA (42.2%) and NT (41.9%) and ahead of Qld (39.8%) and Tas (38.7%).

Footnotes: (a) "organised' sports and physical activities are those organised by a club, association or other type of organisation.

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