Physical activity
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity over time section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity and gender section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and age group section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and area section
- 7. Navigate to By ethnicity and socio-economic group section
- 8. Navigate toData sources section
- 9. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
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from November 2020 to November 2021, 61.4% of people in England aged 16 and over were ‘physically active’ – they did 150 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity a week
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people of mixed ethnicity were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be physically active – this has remained consistent for the last 6 years
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people from the Asian ethnic group were less likely than average to be physically active – this has remained consistent for the last 6 years
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in the Asian and white British ethnic groups, men were more likely to be active than women
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although the figures show differences between men and women in other ethnic groups, sample sizes were too small to make reliable generalisations
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures levels of physical activity for people aged 16 and over in England, by ethnicity.
Moderate activity is activity which raises your breathing rate. Vigorous activity is where you are out of breath or sweating. When measuring physical activity levels, 1 minute of vigorous activity is the equivalent of 2 minutes of moderate activity.
Data is recorded for 3 groups:
- physically active – people who do 150 minutes or more a week
- fairly active – people who do between 30 and 149 minutes a week
- physically inactive – people who do less than 30 minutes a week
The physical activities covered in the survey include:
- sporting activities – like team sports, running, racquet sports, swimming, and bowls
- fitness activities – like gym sessions, fitness classes, weights
- cycling for sport, leisure, or travel
- walking for leisure or travel
- dance
Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number, so some totals may not add up to 100%.
Not included in the data
Data based on fewer than 30 respondents is not included. This is because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnicity categories used in this data
Data is shown for 7 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- Chinese
- mixed
- white British
- white other
- other
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
In the data file
See Download the data for:
- confidence intervals for each ethnic group – find out more about how we use confidence intervals to determine how reliable estimates are
- data from November 2015 to November 2021
3. By ethnicity over time
| Nov 2015 to Nov 2016 | Nov 2016 to Nov 2017 | Nov 2017 to Nov 2018 | Nov 2018 to Nov 2019 | Nov 2019 to Nov 2020 | Nov 2020 to Nov 2021 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Nov 2015 to Nov 2016 % | Nov 2015 to Nov 2016 Number of Respondents | Nov 2016 to Nov 2017 % | Nov 2016 to Nov 2017 Number of Respondents | Nov 2017 to Nov 2018 % | Nov 2017 to Nov 2018 Number of Respondents | Nov 2018 to Nov 2019 % | Nov 2018 to Nov 2019 Number of Respondents | Nov 2019 to Nov 2020 % | Nov 2019 to Nov 2020 Number of Respondents | Nov 2020 to Nov 2021 % | Nov 2020 to Nov 2021 Number of Respondents |
| All | 62.1 | 198,911 | 61.8 | 196,635 | 62.7 | 179,747 | 63.3 | 181,535 | 61.4 | 177,735 | 61.4 | 177,273 |
| Asian | 55.6 | 7,984 | 54.0 | 8,240 | 56.3 | 6,719 | 53.9 | 7,304 | 49.5 | 7,824 | 50.4 | 8,201 |
| Black | 56.6 | 2,910 | 55.4 | 2,996 | 56.6 | 2,494 | 57.7 | 2,524 | 53.3 | 2,664 | 55.1 | 2,792 |
| Chinese | 56.1 | 1,057 | 56.3 | 1,061 | 64.4 | 891 | 61.0 | 983 | 56.7 | 1,034 | 57.8 | 1,221 |
| Mixed | 70.8 | 1,982 | 71.3 | 2,078 | 72.3 | 2,002 | 67.5 | 2,159 | 67.9 | 2,179 | 68.0 | 2,359 |
| White British | 62.8 | 167,292 | 62.9 | 163,434 | 63.6 | 149,985 | 64.6 | 151,336 | 63.1 | 147,260 | 62.7 | 146,284 |
| White other | 65.8 | 9,898 | 65.3 | 10,189 | 66.8 | 9,671 | 65.3 | 9,654 | 63.4 | 9,580 | 65.0 | 10,054 |
| Other | 56.8 | 1,500 | 56.6 | 1,475 | 56.4 | 1,275 | 60.9 | 1,312 | 53.3 | 1,418 | 53.0 | 1,458 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Physical activity By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that:
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61.4% of people aged 16 and over in England were physically active
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people from a mixed ethnic background were most likely to be physically active out of all ethnic groups (68.0%), followed by people from the white ‘other’ ethnic group (65.0%) – this has remained consistent for the last 6 years
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the percentages of physically active people in the Asian, black, ‘other’ and Chinese ethnic groups were lower than the national average, ranging from 50.4% to 57.8%
4. By ethnicity and gender
| Female | Male | Other Gender | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Female % | Female Number of Respondents | Male % | Male Number of Respondents | Other Gender % | Other Gender Number of Respondents |
| All | 59.8 | 97,882 | 63.1 | 78,484 | 58.7 | 594 |
| Asian | 46.6 | 4,247 | 53.6 | 3,922 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Black | 52.1 | 1,673 | 58.8 | 1,096 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Chinese | 55.9 | 734 | 60.3 | 482 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Mixed | 66.4 | 1,418 | 70.2 | 916 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White British | 61.0 | 80,604 | 64.7 | 65,193 | 65.7 | 293 |
| White other | 65.6 | 6,001 | 64.4 | 4,004 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Other | 54.1 | 813 | 52.0 | 633 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)
Summary of Physical activity By ethnicity and gender Summary
The data shows that:
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63.1% of men and 59.8% of women were physically active – 594 people identified as another gender, and of those 58.7% were physically active
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in the white British and Asian ethnic groups, men were more likely to be physically active than women – sample sizes were too small to make reliable generalisations in other ethnic groups
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men from the mixed (70.2%) and white British (64.7%) ethnic groups were more likely to be physically active than the overall average for men – men from the Asian (53.6%) and ‘other’ (52.0%) ethnic groups were less likely to be active
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women from mixed (66.4%), white British (61.0%) and white ‘other’ (65.6%) ethnic groups were more likely to be physically active than the overall average for women – women from Asian (46.6%), black (52.1%) and ‘other’ (54.1%) ethnic groups were less likely to be active
5. By ethnicity and age group
| 16-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65-74 | 75+ | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 16-24 % | 16-24 Number of Respondents | 25-34 % | 25-34 Number of Respondents | 35-44 % | 35-44 Number of Respondents | 45-54 % | 45-54 Number of Respondents | 55-64 % | 55-64 Number of Respondents | 65-74 % | 65-74 Number of Respondents | 75+ % | 75+ Number of Respondents |
| All | 68.6 | 11,143 | 64.9 | 22,800 | 64.1 | 26,861 | 65.2 | 29,145 | 61.5 | 33,895 | 60.1 | 32,985 | 39.3 | 19,504 |
| Asian | 56.1 | 1,085 | 50.3 | 1,737 | 49.9 | 2,378 | 49.9 | 1,531 | 47.4 | 736 | 43.8 | 476 | 31.7 | 229 |
| Black | 63.6 | 387 | 58.1 | 463 | 52.6 | 640 | 50.7 | 561 | 54.1 | 470 | 56.1 | 167 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Chinese | 66.7 | 180 | 54.0 | 304 | 52.5 | 269 | 55.3 | 205 | 59.3 | 148 | 58.1 | 77 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Mixed | 66.4 | 458 | 74.2 | 581 | 70.2 | 528 | 68.2 | 341 | 58.7 | 297 | 66.0 | 103 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White British | 72.4 | 7,666 | 67.7 | 16,487 | 68.5 | 18,980 | 67.5 | 23,720 | 62.6 | 30,153 | 60.5 | 30,526 | 39.6 | 18,200 |
| White other | 69.3 | 736 | 66.8 | 2,250 | 62.9 | 2,713 | 66.5 | 1,752 | 67.4 | 1,175 | 65.1 | 930 | 45.6 | 462 |
| Other | 62.7 | 168 | 54.9 | 251 | 53.5 | 350 | 48.2 | 293 | 45.8 | 198 | 58.6 | 129 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age group’ (CSV)
Summary of Physical activity By ethnicity and age group Summary
The data shows that:
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people became less physically active the older they were – 68.6% of people aged 16 to 24 were physically active, compared with 39.3% of people aged 75 years and over
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white British people had the biggest difference in physical activity levels between age groups – 72.4% of 16 to 24 year olds were physically active, compared with 39.6% of people aged 75 and over
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in all age groups between 16 and 54 years old, white British people were more likely than average to be physically active – the number of people surveyed for the mixed ethnic group in these age groups was too small to make reliable generalisations
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in all age groups between 16 and 74 years old, people from the Asian, black and other ethnic groups were less likely than average to be physically active – the number of people aged 75 and over was too small to make reliable generalisations
6. By ethnicity and area
| All | Asian | Black | Chinese | Mixed | White British | White other | Other | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | All % | All Number of Respondents | Asian % | Asian Number of Respondents | Black % | Black Number of Respondents | Chinese % | Chinese Number of Respondents | Mixed % | Mixed Number of Respondents | White British % | White British Number of Respondents | White other % | White other Number of Respondents | Other % | Other Number of Respondents |
| East | 60.2 | 22,502 | 50.9 | 829 | 54.7 | 287 | 61.2 | 159 | 67.1 | 290 | 61.2 | 18,858 | 59.9 | 1,367 | 37.2 | 128 |
| East Midlands | 59.3 | 21,550 | 50.1 | 790 | 56.3 | 238 | 42.8 | 117 | 55.8 | 263 | 60.5 | 18,635 | 63.5 | 946 | 43.2 | 108 |
| London | 62.4 | 16,340 | 53.2 | 2,283 | 52.9 | 1,009 | 60.0 | 336 | 70.2 | 530 | 67.5 | 8,104 | 68.6 | 2,572 | 54.4 | 475 |
| North East | 58.7 | 7,595 | 48.9 | 218 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 67.2 | 57 | 59.5 | 6,815 | 55.2 | 211 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| North West | 60.1 | 26,991 | 47.4 | 1,230 | 55.9 | 334 | 43.0 | 169 | 69.1 | 322 | 61.4 | 23,014 | 61.5 | 1,011 | 55.9 | 198 |
| South East | 64.4 | 32,024 | 54.0 | 1,152 | 61.6 | 335 | 63.3 | 170 | 74.2 | 397 | 65.1 | 26,930 | 65.6 | 2,010 | 58.3 | 229 |
| South West | 65.3 | 16,204 | 49.3 | 243 | 64.2 | 97 | 73.5 | 79 | 70.8 | 157 | 65.7 | 14,521 | 66.1 | 702 | 70.6 | 60 |
| West Midlands | 57.8 | 17,022 | 46.9 | 1,013 | 55.7 | 288 | 50.9 | 86 | 61.1 | 189 | 59.8 | 14,179 | 61.2 | 707 | 54.9 | 113 |
| Yorkshire And The Humber | 60.3 | 17,045 | 42.6 | 443 | 58.3 | 145 | 59.2 | 66 | 65.0 | 154 | 61.5 | 15,228 | 62.9 | 528 | 50.2 | 107 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Physical activity By ethnicity and area Summary
The data shows that:
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rates of physical activity were higher than the national average in the South West (65.3%) and the South East (64.5%) – they were lower than the national average in the West Midlands (57.8%), East Midlands (59.3%), North East (58.7%) and North West (60.1%)
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people from mixed ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be physically active in London, the North West and the South East than the average for each region
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people from the Asian ethnic group were less likely than average to be physically active in all regions except for the North East – sample sizes for this region are smaller, making it more difficult to make reliable conclusions
7. By ethnicity and socio-economic group
| Managerial and professional occupations | Intermediate occupations and lower supervisory | Routine and manual occupations | Long term unemployed | Full-time student or unclassified | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Managerial and professional occupations % | Managerial and professional occupations Number of Respondents | Intermediate occupations and lower supervisory % | Intermediate occupations and lower supervisory Number of Respondents | Routine and manual occupations % | Routine and manual occupations Number of Respondents | Long term unemployed % | Long term unemployed Number of Respondents | Full-time student or unclassified % | Full-time student or unclassified Number of Respondents |
| All | 71.2 | 85,596 | 60.8 | 38,522 | 54.1 | 16,560 | 46.8 | 4,328 | 64.2 | 12,763 |
| Asian | 58.2 | 4,104 | 48.1 | 1,375 | 41.3 | 853 | 40.6 | 555 | 52.5 | 1,085 |
| Black | 62.3 | 1,288 | 51.0 | 460 | 45.9 | 301 | 44.4 | 188 | 61.5 | 472 |
| Chinese | 58.4 | 654 | 55.9 | 171 | 49.0 | 113 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 61.3 | 220 |
| Mixed | 72.0 | 1,228 | 68.6 | 406 | 64.4 | 223 | 55.5 | 98 | 69.1 | 359 |
| White British | 73.0 | 69,908 | 62.0 | 33,221 | 56.1 | 13,577 | 48.9 | 2,919 | 68.3 | 8,459 |
| White other | 72.2 | 5,786 | 63.2 | 1,881 | 51.6 | 950 | 53.8 | 203 | 67.7 | 772 |
| Other | 58.7 | 695 | 53.1 | 239 | 50.9 | 136 | 33.9 | 105 | 58.1 | 220 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV)
Summary of Physical activity By ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary
The data shows that:
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rates of physical activity were highest for people in managerial and professional occupations (71.2%) and full-time students (64.2%) – they were lowest for long-term unemployed people (46.8%)
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in managerial and professional occupations, people from the white British ethnic group were more likely than average to be physically active (73.0%)
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people from Asian ethnic backgrounds were less likely to be physically active than the average for each socio-economic group, excluding the long-term unemployed group where sample sizes are smaller and therefore it is more difficult to draw reliable conclusions
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black people were less likely to be physically active than the average for managerial and professional occupations, and for intermediate, lower supervisory and technical occupations
8. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Note on corrections or updates
Edited frequency of publication
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Active Lives Survey measures the number of people aged 16 and over who take part in sport and physical activity.
This data informs the government’s strategy on physical activity, Sporting Future, which looks at 5 aspects of physical activity:
- physical well-being
- mental well-being
- individual development
- social and community development
- economic development
The Active Lives Adults survey has previously been published twice a year – in April, which covered the full year November to November period, and in October, which covered the mid-year May to May period. Following an external consultation in early 2022, results are now only being published annually each April. Read more information about publications: https://www.sportengland.org/research/active-lives-survey/
9. Download the data
The file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, time period, geography, gender, age bracket, socio-economic group, physical activity level, value as a percentage of the population, population weighted numerators and denominators, and lastly confidence intervals (upper and lower).