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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in the year to November 2022, 63.1% 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 from mixed ethnic backgrounds were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be physically active – this has remained consistent for the last 7 years
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people from the Asian, black, and ‘other’ ethnic groups were less likely to be physically active than the national average
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men were more likely to be active than women in the Asian, black, white British, and ‘other’ ethnic groups
Further research:
Research from the Bristol Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing in 2019 reviewed studies about the barriers and facilitators among black and minority ethnic groups in the UK. It identified poor work-life balance as a barrier. For example, South Asian men worked extra hours to support their family, so had less time to take part in physical activity.
The financial costs associated with some physical activities may also act as a barrier. In addition, language barriers can discourage a person from taking part in physical activity in public, and there may be a lack of knowledge and understanding about the benefits of exercise.
The research also identified some barriers to physical activity specific to women from ethnic minority groups. For example, because of cultural expectations that South Asian women are homemakers, these women felt that their lifestyle meant that they were already physically active, or that pursuing physical activity would be a hindrance to this role. Also, people from some ethnic groups perceived certain forms of exercise as culturally inappropriate, and which could endanger modesty.
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 may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
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 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:
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interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
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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:
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confidence intervals for each ethnic group – find out more about how we use confidence intervals to determine how reliable estimates are
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physical inactivity data, which was previously published as a separate page
3. By ethnicity over time
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2016 % | 2016 Number of Respondents | 2017 % | 2017 Number of Respondents | 2018 % | 2018 Number of Respondents | 2019 % | 2019 Number of Respondents | 2020 % | 2020 Number of Respondents | 2021 % | 2021 Number of Respondents | 2022 % | 2022 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 | 63.1 | 177,551 |
| 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 | 55.0 | 9,067 |
| 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 | 56.1 | 3,159 |
| Chinese | 56.1 | 1,057 | 56.3 | 1,061 | 64.4 | 891 | 61.0 | 983 | 56.7 | 1,034 | 57.8 | 1,221 | 60.4 | 1,349 |
| 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 | 70.8 | 2,490 |
| 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 | 64.4 | 144,097 |
| 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 | 66.8 | 10,092 |
| 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 | 54.7 | 1,516 |
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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in the year to November 2022, 63.1% of people aged 16 and over in England were physically active
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people from mixed ethnic backgrounds (70.8%) were the most likely to be physically active out of all ethnic groups, followed by people from the white ‘other’ ethnic group (66.8%) – this has remained consistent for the last 7 years
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in the 7 years to November 2022, the percentages of physically active people in the Asian, black, and ‘other’ ethnic groups were consistently lower than the national average
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 | 60.8 | 98,341 | 65.6 | 78,112 | 59.5 | 841 |
| Asian | 49.7 | 4,761 | 59.6 | 4,259 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Black | 50.7 | 1,808 | 61.9 | 1,327 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Chinese | 57.8 | 776 | 63.1 | 565 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Mixed | 69.6 | 1,491 | 72.5 | 957 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White British | 62.2 | 79,839 | 66.9 | 63,710 | 65.4 | 394 |
| White other | 65.9 | 6,014 | 67.6 | 4,003 | 78.0 | 70 |
| Other | 49.4 | 800 | 60.0 | 700 | 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, in the year to November 2022:
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65.6% of men and 60.8% of women were physically active – 841 people identified as another gender, and of those 59.5% were physically active
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in the white British, black, Asian, and ‘other’ 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 (72.5%) and white British (66.9%) ethnic groups were more likely to be physically active than the overall average for men (65.6%) – men from the Asian (59.6%) and ‘other’ (60.0%) ethnic groups were less likely to be active
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women from mixed (69.6%), white British (62.2%) and white other (65.9%) ethnic groups were more likely to be physically active than the overall average for women (60.8%) – women from Asian (49.7%), black (50.7%) and ‘other’ (49.4%) 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 | 72.8 | 11,027 | 67.0 | 23,549 | 65.3 | 27,421 | 66.5 | 28,069 | 63.0 | 33,487 | 60.7 | 32,482 | 41.2 | 20,333 |
| Asian | 64.0 | 1,283 | 55.8 | 1,903 | 52.7 | 2,643 | 50.4 | 1,630 | 51.2 | 782 | 47.8 | 562 | 34.7 | 230 |
| Black | 66.1 | 402 | 53.8 | 588 | 53.5 | 737 | 55.2 | 550 | 54.6 | 566 | 46.3 | 186 | 43.3 | 91 |
| Chinese | 64.9 | 159 | 60.9 | 318 | 58.1 | 370 | 61.9 | 234 | 58.7 | 156 | 54.3 | 83 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Mixed | 74.9 | 498 | 72.7 | 668 | 68.9 | 572 | 68.0 | 359 | 67.4 | 258 | 45.4 | 100 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White British | 76.6 | 7,241 | 70.4 | 16,636 | 69.6 | 18,861 | 69.8 | 22,211 | 63.8 | 29,525 | 61.3 | 29,876 | 41.4 | 19,033 |
| White other | 76.8 | 672 | 68.3 | 2,183 | 66.2 | 2,780 | 64.6 | 1,859 | 66.6 | 1,237 | 63.9 | 888 | 43.7 | 444 |
| Other | 57.7 | 171 | 64.3 | 270 | 51.3 | 321 | 46.9 | 286 | 56.7 | 203 | 56.1 | 182 | 41.8 | 77 |
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 for the year ending November 2022 shows that:
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people became less physically active the older they were – 72.8% of people aged 16 to 24 were physically active, compared with 41.2% 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 – 76.6% of 16 to 24 year olds were physically active, compared with 41.4% 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 in 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 and black 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 | 63.1 | 22,533 | 55.9 | 850 | 60.8 | 364 | 64.3 | 149 | 73.0 | 325 | 63.5 | 18,665 | 65.7 | 1,382 | 55.8 | 158 |
| East Midlands | 61.1 | 19,268 | 51.0 | 829 | 59.8 | 306 | 54.1 | 81 | 71.9 | 225 | 61.9 | 16,400 | 65.5 | 787 | 40.7 | 96 |
| London | 64.2 | 16,382 | 57.7 | 2,337 | 54.2 | 1,040 | 61.7 | 362 | 71.2 | 534 | 69.9 | 7,918 | 69.4 | 2,565 | 57.3 | 462 |
| North East | 60.9 | 7,560 | 61.3 | 221 | 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 | 62.0 | 75 | 61.3 | 6,704 | 64.0 | 203 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| North West | 61.3 | 27,111 | 48.3 | 1,397 | 53.1 | 397 | 67.4 | 209 | 71.4 | 297 | 62.7 | 22,702 | 65.8 | 1,063 | 53.0 | 210 |
| South East | 66.5 | 32,283 | 60.2 | 1,261 | 57.0 | 345 | 56.4 | 249 | 73.8 | 462 | 67.3 | 26,887 | 67.6 | 1,965 | 61.2 | 231 |
| South West | 67.1 | 16,366 | 62.5 | 253 | 66.6 | 94 | 55.5 | 64 | 78.3 | 151 | 67.4 | 14,569 | 69.0 | 761 | 62.1 | 70 |
| West Midlands | 58.0 | 19,066 | 50.3 | 1,418 | 54.1 | 385 | 59.3 | 100 | 62.6 | 259 | 60.1 | 15,257 | 57.6 | 825 | 47.6 | 152 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 62.0 | 16,982 | 51.6 | 501 | 65.4 | 161 | 58.9 | 76 | 64.5 | 162 | 63.4 | 14,995 | 62.7 | 541 | 39.6 | 90 |
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, in the year to November 2022:
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rates of physical activity were higher than the national average in the South West (67.1%) and the South East (66.5%) – they were lower than the national average in the West Midlands (58.0%), East Midlands (61.1%), North East (60.9%) and North West (61.3%)
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people from mixed ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be physically active in the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East and North West 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 and South West – sample sizes for these regions were too small 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 | 72.6 | 86,992 | 62.2 | 37,420 | 55.2 | 16,039 | 44.9 | 4,027 | 68.1 | 12,740 |
| Asian | 59.7 | 4,697 | 51.6 | 1,460 | 47.0 | 861 | 41.7 | 594 | 62.4 | 1,225 |
| Black | 60.3 | 1,550 | 54.2 | 532 | 51.3 | 299 | 45.7 | 174 | 59.0 | 513 |
| Chinese | 65.0 | 779 | 53.1 | 220 | 50.6 | 118 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 62.7 | 176 |
| Mixed | 73.5 | 1,400 | 67.0 | 417 | 65.6 | 197 | 55.0 | 99 | 75.8 | 350 |
| White British | 74.7 | 69,699 | 63.6 | 31,774 | 57.1 | 12,907 | 45.1 | 2,561 | 71.9 | 8,123 |
| White other | 73.9 | 5,783 | 64.1 | 1,877 | 50.1 | 1,049 | 54.6 | 179 | 75.6 | 760 |
| Other | 62.5 | 767 | 46.2 | 231 | 41.1 | 147 | 54.6 | 95 | 59.4 | 199 |
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, in the year to November 2022:
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rates of physical activity were highest for people in managerial and professional occupations (72.6%) and the student or unclassified group (68.1%) – they were lowest for long-term unemployed people (44.9%)
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in managerial and professional occupations, white British people (74.7%) were more likely than average to be physically active
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people from Asian ethnic backgrounds were less likely to be physically active than the average for every socio-economic group except the long-term unemployed group – sample sizes for this group were too small to make reliable conclusions
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black people were less likely to be physically active than the average for managerial and professional occupations, intermediate, lower supervisory and technical occupations, and for the student or unclassified group
8. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
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, covering the full year from November to November
- in October, covering covered the mid-year May to May period
Following an external consultation in early 2022, results are now only being published annually each April.
9. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, ns_sec, value, value_type, denominator, numerator, upper_95_c_i, lower_95_c_i, standard_error, sample_size