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Recreational Activities
According to the 2002 National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) by the US Forest Service 88% of the US population participated in some kind of Trail/Street/Road Activities (biking, walking, hiking, ...)
The Outdoor Industry Association says 72% of Americans 16+ participated at least once in a human powered active outdoor activity in 2004.
Activities below were ranked by popularity averaging participation data from the Natl. Sporting Goods Assn. (NSGA) and Other sources *) 1
Num. - US participants in millions (Population between 15 and 80 = 212 M)
(Participated more than once) (2004 normalized value based on 10 yr. trend)
Chg. - Average growth rate per year 1993-2004 (some are 1998-2001.) (Population growth = 1.3%/yr.)
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| Activity | Num | Chg. |
1 | Walking | 84 | 2.0% |
2 | Swimming | 68 | -1.9% |
3 | Bicycle Riding | 66 | -2.6% |
4 | Fishing4 | 55 | -1.6% |
5 | Camping (vacation/overnite) | 51 | 2.3% |
6 | Exercising with Equipment | 51 | 2.4% |
7 | Off-road Vehicle (ORV) * | 50 | 7.2% |
8 | Hiking 2 | 48 | 0.0% |
9 | Bowling | 45 | -0.1% |
10 | Fitness Walking | 40 | |
11 | Billiards/Pool | 33 | 0.6% |
12 | Workout at Club | 30 | 4.5% |
13 | Basketball | 29 | -0.8% |
14 | Running/Jogging | 29 | 1.9% |
15 | Aerobic Exercising | 29 | 1.7% |
16 | Weight Lifting | 27 | 3.2% |
17 | Golf 3 | 25 | 0.8% |
18 | Boating, Motor/Power | 24 | -0.1% |
19 | Calisthenics | 23 | |
20 | Target Shooting | 18 | -0.8% |
21 | Trail Running * | 17 | 3.2% |
22 | Hunting with Firearms | 17 | 0.1% |
23 | Bird Watching * | 15 | -9.0% |
24 | Volleyball | 15 | -4.8% |
25 | Canoeing | 14 | 16.0% |
26 | In-Line Roller Skating | 14 | -2.0% |
27 | Soccer | 14 | 1.2% |
28 | Softball | 13 | -3.2% |
29 | Horseback Riding | 13 | |
30 | Tennis | 13 | -2.8% |
31 | Fly Fishing4 * | 11 | 23.0% |
32 | Backpack/Wilderness Camp | 12 | 5.1% |
33 | Baseball | 12 | -0.5% |
34 | Scooter Riding | 11 | -0.2% |
35 | Roller Skating | 11 | |
36 | Football (touch) | 10 | -2.8% |
37 | table tennis * | 10 | |
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Activity | Num | Chg. |
Skateboarding | 10 | 7.4% |
T'ai Chi/Yoga | 10 | |
Ice/Figure Skating | 9.4 | -3.0% |
Paintball Games | 8.7 | 13.7% |
Skiing (alpine) | 8.4 | -3.7% |
snorkeling * | 8.2 | |
Mountain Biking (off road) | 8.2 | 0.0% |
Kayaking * | 8.2 | 16.0% |
Jet Skiing | 8.0 | |
Pilates * | 7.7 | |
horseshoe pitching * | 6.7 | |
Football (tackle) | 6.6 | 0.2% |
Artificial Wall Climbing * | 6.6 | 16.0% |
Snowboarding | 6.4 | 14.0% |
Rafting * | 5.8 | -6.0% |
Martial Arts | 5.7 | 1.9% |
Water Skiing | 5.6 | -3.3% |
Skiing (cross country) | 5.5 | -4.0% |
Archery (target) | 5.4 | -0.5% |
badminton * | 5.2 | |
Hunting w/Bow & Arrow | 4.5 | 0.0% |
Cheerleading * | 3.9 | |
racquetball * | 3.7 | |
snowmobiling * | 3.7 | |
Telemark Skiing | 3.6 | 18% |
Kick Boxing | 3.5 | -5.5% |
Muzzleloading | 3.5 | 2.7% |
Rock Climbing (Mountain) * | 3.2 | -3.0% |
Sailing | 3.1 | -3.4% |
snowshoeing * | 2.8 | |
Scuba diving (open water) * | 2.5 | |
Wakeboarding | 2.3 | |
Hockey (ice) | 2.1 | 1.5% |
surfboarding * | 1.5 | |
roller hockey * | 1.3 | |
Boardsailing/Windsurfing * | 0.4 | |
Lacrosse * | 0.9 | 13.0% |
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Note: I don't think there sampling is sufficient; There is a large variation from year to year. I computed values by doing a best fit linear estimate from 1993 to 2004.
(Population between 15 and 80 = 212 M - Growth = 1.3%/yr.)
1. (*) Some data is from SGMA, American Sports Data, INC and Outdoor Industry Assn. OIA)
in addition to NSGA.
OIA numbers are more than double those of NSGA for bicycling, fishing, hiking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, rafting and cross-country skiing. (See Hiking in footnote 2 below.) NSGA requires participation more than once which accounts for some of the difference. (Other numbers between sources vary by as much as 35%. Some variation due to different age groups [Amer. Sports Data and SGMA include age 6 and above, which adds 13% to the base.] and time periods.)
We've used averages for those numbers which differ significantly.
Lacrosse data from: SGMA and
USLacrosse.org.
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2.
| The Outdoor Industry Foundation (OIF) reports 75 million hiked at least once in 2004, the NSGA reports 28 M hiked more than once and SGMA reports about 40 M.
American Sports Data includes people over age 6 for a Day Hiking hiking total of 37 M.
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3.
| Golf has been declining for the last five years, by 2.5%/year since 2001.
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4.
| OIF reports 80 million fishing participants in 2004, while the the NSGA reports 40 million. According to the Outdoor Industry Foundation (OIF) fly fishing spiked in 2004 with a 40% increase to 18 million.
According to SGMA both fly fishing and total fishing dropped in 2004.
According to a 2003 Fly Fisherman magazine article there were 13 million in 2003.
National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation
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A survey commissioned by the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) and later published in Outdoors Unlimited reported that there were
6.5 million active fly-fishers age 16 or older in the United States in 1999. The Survey indicates that 10.9 million people have fly-fished at least once in the past 12 months. (Article)
According to a 2005 Study by the Outdoor Industry Foundation for OIA,
159 million Americans age 16 and older (71.6% of that population. 59% of females ) (56% of participants are males, up from a 50/50 mix in 1998) participated in at least one of 22 human powered outdoor recreation activities in 2004. This is a 6% increase over 1998.
They distinguish "participants" as people who participated at least once during the year from "Enthusiasts" as those whose participation was in the top 15%.
Significant participant growth from 1998 to 2004 occurred in canoeing, snowshoeing, Telemark skiing and trail running. In addition to those enthusiasts grew in single track bicycling, dirt road bicycling, hiking, and rafting.
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Participation by region:
West | 78% |
N. Central | 72% |
S. Central | 70% |
East | 68% |
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American's Participation In Outdoor Recreation - 1999 - 2002 National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) by the USDA Forest Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
See Recreation participation trends for data thru 2004.
Percent and number of people 16 years and older in the U.S. participating in 12 types
of outdoor recreational activities, 1999-2003.
Type of Outdoor Activity | % | Num- ber |
Participated in any Type of Activity | 97.6 | 207.9 |
Trail/Street/Road Activities (Biking, Hiking, Walking, ..) | 88.3 | 188.2 |
Traditional Social Activities (Family Gathering, Picnic) | 80.6 | 171.8 |
Viewing & Photographing Activities | 73.9 | 157.5 |
Viewing & Learning Activities | 67.3 | 143.4 |
Driving for Pleasure Activities | 61.5 | 131.1 |
Swimming Activities | 61.3 | 130.6 |
Boating/Floating/sailing Activities | 36.2 | 77.1 |
Fishing | 33.9 | 72.2 |
Snow & Ice Activities | 26.4 | 56.3 |
Outdoor Team Sports | 22.7 | 48.4 |
Hunting | 11.1 | 23.7 |
Activities | % | Num- ber |
Outdoor Adventure Activities | 55.7 | 119 |
Hiking | 22.4 | 48 |
Backpacking | 10.5 | 23 |
Mountain climbing | 6.3 | 13 |
Rock climbing | 4.3 | 9 |
Caving | 4.2 | 9 |
Off-road driving | 18.5 | 40 |
Horseback riding | 9.6 | 20 |
Backpacking & Camping Activities | % | Num- ber |
Backpacking | 10.4 | 22.2 |
Developed Camping | 26.4 | 56.3 |
Primitive Camping | 15.9 | 33.9 |
Visit a Wilderness or Primitive Area | 32.0 | 68.2 |
Gather Mushrooms, Berries or Other Natural Products |
28.5 | 60.7 |
Some data from Recreation participation trends at the USDA Forest Service.
Sports Spending: (2004 per NSGA)
$ Billions
Recreational Transportation $36
(bicycles, pleasure boats and motors, RVs and Snowmobiles)
Equipment * $23
Footwear $15
Clothing $11
Health Club/Y memberships $12 (approx.)
* Top equipment categories are: Exercise Equip-$5 B;
Golf Equip-3.2;
Hunting and Firearms-2.9;
Fishing Tackle-2;
Camping-1.5
See Also:
Popular Destinations for sports and recreation (skiing, fly-fishing, golf, scuba, ...)
Sports for Skiing, Rock-Climbing, Cycling, Fishing, ...
Recreation participation trends at the USDA Forest Service.
OUTDOOR RECREATION PARTICIPATION STUDY - 2005 Edition Prepared by Leisure Trends Group for the Outdoor Industry Assn.
hobbies
Recreation/Sports Categories
Outdoor Industry Association
Off-road Vehicle (ORV) Users at the US Forest Service
American Sports Data, INC (Great Outdoor Revolution)
SGMA (Extreme Sports: Ranking)
last updated 23 May 2006
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